DEVELOPING ECONOMIES are slowly growing their share of intellectual assets as multinational firms and increased public spending drive up patent filings and research, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reported last week.
Low- and middle-income countries spent a combined $350 billion in research & development (R&D) in 2009, accounting for nearly 30% of the global investment worth $1.2 trillion. Their share rose 13 percentage points since 1993 against their wealthier counterparts which spent $854 billion in 2009.
While high-income countries still claim almost 70% of the spending, the global agency took the uptrend as indication of the indispensable role of innovation in corporate competitiveness, economic growth, and social development. This narrowing gap between developed and developing economies in this respect could be attributed to “The Changing Face of Innovation,” according to a report titled as such.
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