Stian Westlake - 16.11.2011
The Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators is an interesting list of patenting activity by big companies. But it would be crazy to see it as an indicator of how innovative the UK is.
As NESTA's research has repeatedly shown, innovation is about much more than patents. Turning ideas into profitable businesses requires not just research & development and patenting, but also product design, new business models, and even (whisper it) excellence in marketing. Some industries - especially aspects of manufacturing like pharma or semiconductors - stand or fall on the basis of their ability to profit from patented inventions. (And for what it's worth the Thomson Reuters survey is spot on in measuring the value of patents, not the raw volume.)
But for most of the economy, patents simply aren't the deciding factor. Consider the UK's creative industries, its business services sector, or the internet businesses of Silicon Roundabout: they all generate very few patents, despite being full of deeply innovative, internationally competitive businesses. NESTA's Innovation Index showed that only 11% of UK business investment in innovation takes the form of R&D, and even less of this relates to patents.
France will take great comfort in having 11 businesses among the supposed top 100 innovators. And this in itself will lead to much hand-wringing in the UK - that's 11 more than we have. But there's no point getting depressed about losing a contest that doesn't matter.
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NICKWHITE
16 Nov 11, 2:53pm (1 years ago)
Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators
I'm sorry but this blog response is gobsmacking in its naivety. Losing a contest that does not matter? I’m speechless.
In a mixed economy the various sectors all have their part to play and it is important that one does not have a myopic view of this; I think Nesta is in danger of developing such myopia. Nesta seems to take every opportunity to talk down patents in the context of innovation and this is disturbingly wrongheaded. Patents have nothing to do with the innovation process but they have their place in protecting the fruits of the innovation process in some sectors. If I have a problem with this report and similar reports is that they get this wrong in parts.
Economies need to be mixed for good reasons. In any economy it is true that there will be swathes of activity that have no recourse to patents or any other forms of registered IP rights. These sectors are nonetheless innovative and that is a very good thing.
In these non-patent sectors the UK is in competition with the ROW and is certainly not leading the world in the majority of areas so nothing to crow about I’m afraid. No amount of excellent innovation in these sectors will make up for the lack of innovation in the rest of the economy and legacy industries. Being late with Silicon Roundabout should not be seen as a balancing alternative to legacy industrial excellence now in decline though lack of innovation.
The worrying thing about this Thomson Reuters report (which is mirrored in many other reports on this subject) is that the UK is showing alarmingly poor innovation in the Science and Technology (traditional technology not internet/software) sector as evidenced by a shrinking industrial base and a decline in patent numbers and quality. We put large quantities of public money into University research and we produce large numbers of Science and Technology graduates but are unable to innovate around this investment into our declining industrial base. We also have a declining reputation in University research and this has nothing to do with public funding and everything to do with the loss of a vibrant S&T industrial base.
The countries on the list dominate across many sectors not just those with patent activity. If it “does not matter” ask yourself why most of the developed world bothers to get it right on patents The answer is that they do not suffer from myopia. Doing an ostrich and whistling in the dark is not a good alternative to hand wringing.