Contact
OECD Environment Directorate (env.stat@oecd.org)
Last updated: July 8, 2022
Data source and methodology
This dataset presents patent statistics and indicators that are suitable for tracking innovation in environment-related technologies. They allow the assessment of countries' and firms' innovation performance as well as the design of governments' environmental and innovation policies.
The patent statistics presented here are constructed using algorithms developed by the OECD Environment Directorate drawing on data extracted from the OECD STI Micro-data Lab: Intellectual Property Database, http://oe.cd/ipstats. Consistent with other patent statistics provided in OECD.Stat, only published applications for "patents of invention" are considered (i.e. excluding utility models, petty patents, etc.).
The relevant patent documents are identified using search strategies for environment-related technologies (ENV-TECH, see link below) which were developed specifically for this purpose. They allow identifying technologies relevant to environmental management, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and ocean sustainability. For the complete list of CPC/IPC codes see the link below to the "ENV-tech search strategy.txt" (SQL script).
The development and global diffusion of environment-related technologies is key for cost-efficient achievement of environmental policy objectives. Consequently the statistics presented here are based on the concept of a patent family which is defined as all patent applications protecting the same ‘priority' (as defined by the Paris Convention), also referred to as ‘simple patent family' (see Martinez 2010). The patent family concept is applied to all statistics presented here, including counts of patent families by inventor country (as a measure of technology development) and by jurisdictions where patent protection for these inventions has been sought (as a measure of technology diffusion).
Note that counts for aggregate technological domains are provided separately to avoid double-counting of inventions. For example, the count of "selected environment-related technologies" is less or equal to the sum of its sub-components (environmental management, climate change mitigation). This is because patents are commonly classified in more than one technology class. Therefore each patented invention is counted only once when aggregating across technological domains. The same holds at the sub-domain level.
Data characteristics
Missing values are to be interpreted as zeros
Three types of patent-based indicators are presented:
1) Indicator of technology development: The number of inventions (simple patent families) developed by country's inventors, independent of the jurisdictions where patent protection is sought (i.e. all known patent families worldwide are considered). The indicator is disaggregated by:
2) Indicator of international collaboration in technology development: This dataset provides the number of co-inventions (simple patent families) developed jointly by at least two inventors. For better clarity, the dataset is split into two parts:
International collaboration in technology development (bilateral). This indicator is disaggregated by:
International collaboration in technology development (rates). This indicator is disaggregated by:
3) Indicator of technology diffusion: The number of inventions that seek patent protection through national, regional or international routes (equivalents of the priority application, pertaining to the same "simple patent family") in a given jurisdiction. It shows the extent to which firms and individuals seek to "protect" the relevant markets for their inventions (including both domestic and foreign inventions). The indicator is disaggregated by:
For further details on the methodology applied to these indicators, see:
For further details on the methodology applied to these indicators, see:
Contact
OECD Environment Directorate (env.stat@oecd.org)
Last updated: July 8, 2022
Data source and methodology
This dataset presents patent statistics and indicators that are suitable for tracking innovation in environment-related technologies. They allow the assessment of countries' and firms' innovation performance as well as the design of governments' environmental and innovation policies.
The patent statistics presented here are constructed using algorithms developed by the OECD Environment Directorate drawing on data extracted from the OECD STI Micro-data Lab: Intellectual Property Database, http://oe.cd/ipstats. Consistent with other patent statistics provided in OECD.Stat, only published applications for "patents of invention" are considered (i.e. excluding utility models, petty patents, etc.).
The relevant patent documents are identified using search strategies for environment-related technologies (ENV-TECH, see link below) which were developed specifically for this purpose. They allow identifying technologies relevant to environmental management, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and ocean sustainability. For the complete list of CPC/IPC codes see the link below to the "ENV-tech search strategy.txt" (SQL script).
The development and global diffusion of environment-related technologies is key for cost-efficient achievement of environmental policy objectives. Consequently the statistics presented here are based on the concept of a patent family which is defined as all patent applications protecting the same ‘priority' (as defined by the Paris Convention), also referred to as ‘simple patent family' (see Martinez 2010). The patent family concept is applied to all statistics presented here, including counts of patent families by inventor country (as a measure of technology development) and by jurisdictions where patent protection for these inventions has been sought (as a measure of technology diffusion).
Note that counts for aggregate technological domains are provided separately to avoid double-counting of inventions. For example, the count of "selected environment-related technologies" is less or equal to the sum of its sub-components (environmental management, climate change mitigation). This is because patents are commonly classified in more than one technology class. Therefore each patented invention is counted only once when aggregating across technological domains. The same holds at the sub-domain level.
Data characteristics
Missing values are to be interpreted as zeros
Three types of patent-based indicators are presented:
1) Indicator of technology development: The number of inventions (simple patent families) developed by country's inventors, independent of the jurisdictions where patent protection is sought (i.e. all known patent families worldwide are considered). The indicator is disaggregated by:
2) Indicator of international collaboration in technology development: This dataset provides the number of co-inventions (simple patent families) developed jointly by at least two inventors. For better clarity, the dataset is split into two parts:
International collaboration in technology development (bilateral). This indicator is disaggregated by:
International collaboration in technology development (rates). This indicator is disaggregated by:
3) Indicator of technology diffusion: The number of inventions that seek patent protection through national, regional or international routes (equivalents of the priority application, pertaining to the same "simple patent family") in a given jurisdiction. It shows the extent to which firms and individuals seek to "protect" the relevant markets for their inventions (including both domestic and foreign inventions). The indicator is disaggregated by:
For further details on the methodology applied to these indicators, see:
For further details on the methodology applied to these indicators, see: