Anti-pollution Innovation Strengths Indicators Based on US Patents

Abstract: This paper uses innovation strengths indicators based on pollution prevention and abatement (or anti-pollution) patents lodged at the US Patent and Trademark Office for the period 1975-2002 to: (i) analyse trends in the patenting of anti-pollution technologies in the USA; and (ii) provide international rankings for the development of anti-pollution technologies. Annual data used for the innovation strengths indicators are patent shares to represent international presence, the technological specialisation index to represent national priorities, and the rate of assigned patents to represent potential economic benefits. The empirical results demonstrate the clear advantage held by Japan and France among the leading twelve foreign countries with patents in the USA