Hurt by smaller R&D budgets and offshoring, Yankees are winning fewer U.S. patents than non-residents
Has the U.S. lost its Yankee ingenuity? For the first time in 2009, non-Americans were granted more U.S. patents than resident inventors, accounting for 50.7% of new grants, according to recent data from the Patent & Trademark Office. Moreover, for only the second time in the last 25 years, patent applications fell overall in the year ended Sept. 30.
The role reversal had been only a matter of time. Led by Japan and the likes of South Korea and China, other countries have been zigzagging their way higher in patent awards for decades, while the number granted to U.S. residents peaked in 2001. Still, the inflection point troubles American tech industry advocates and other analysts. "The U.S. is losing its innovation base," says Robert D. Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington think tank.
Original Article: Innovation: Ben Franklin, Where Are You? - BusinessWeek
