WIPO Global Innovation Index (GII) – 2021 Edition

The 14th edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) has just been published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 

Since the first edition was released in 2007, the GII has become an invaluable tool with which to measure innovation.  As always, the 2021 edition ranks the innovation taking place in 132 global economies by using 81 indicators, but this edition also introduces a ‘Global Innovation Tracker’.  This examines innovation trends against the various stages of the innovation journey, namely: science and innovations investments; technological progress; and socioeconomic impact.

Understandably, the coverage in this year’s report contains an additional feature focussing on the one theme that has affected all our lives over the last 18 months, ‘Tracking Innovation through the COVID-19 Crisis’.

How has COVID-19 influenced innovation?

According to the 2021 GII governments and enterprises in many parts of the world scaled up their investment in innovation despite the massive human and economic cost of the pandemic.  The Index shows “a growing acknowledgement that new ideas are critical for overcoming the pandemic and for ensuring post-pandemic economic growth.”

Before adding that R&D expenditure appeared to be more resilient to the downturn caused by the pandemic than it had been to previous slumps, the narrative also admits “the impact of the crisis has been highly uneven across industries”. 

Businesses producing software, internet and communications technologies, the hardware and electrical equipment industry and pharmaceuticals and biotechnology increased their investment in innovation and R&D.  Conversely, those whose businesses rely on in-person activities – for example transport and travel –  reduced their investment.

WIPO Director General Daren Tang was quick to underline the impressive way innovation has continued to grow during the last 18 months and the vital role it will play during the recovery:

“This year’s Global Innovation Index shows us that in spite of the massive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives and livelihoods, many sectors have shown remarkable resilience – especially those that have embraced digitalization, technology and innovation.  As the world looks to rebuild from the pandemic, we know that innovation is integral to overcoming the common challenges that we face and to constructing a better future.”

What other trends in innovation has the 2021 GII discovered?


WIPO shared some of their key findings in the press release that accompanied the launch of the GII. 

The volume of venture capital deals is growing.  Activity increased by 5.8% in 2020 which was higher than the average rate of growth over the last decade. 

The publication of scientific articles across the world also grew by 7.6% in 2020.  Arguably this could also have been a by-product of the pandemic given some academics had greater flexibility due to having to work from home.

Which countries does the GII rank as the world’s most innovative?

Looking more closely at the innovations in levels in individual countries the GII reported:

  • Seven European countries continue to rank in the global top 10 including Switzerland (No1) who have topped the ranking for the last eleven years and Sweden (No2) who together lead in “international patent applications filed via WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)”.
  • The U.S.A. has stayed in 3rd place for the third year in a row.  It also led the way in “key metrics such as patents by origin, the quality of its universities and the impact of its scientific publications and in R&D intensive global companies”.
  • The UK maintains it’s position at number 4 in the GII and leads Europe in the quality of its universities and the impact of its scientific publications.
  • The other European countries in the global top 10 are The Netherlands (6) , Finland (7), Denmark (9) and Germany (10).
  • India (46) continues to maintain its position as the world leaders in “the indicator of exports of ICT services”, South Korea (5) improved its position in the indicators related to “trademarks, global brand value, and cultural and creative services export” and China (12) boasted “19 of the top science and technology clusters worldwide – with Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou and Beijing in the 2nd and 3rd spots, respectively”.
  • Korea, India and China are joined in the global top 20 by Singapore (8), Japan (13) and Hong Kong (14).

How is the geography of global innovation changing?

The word the GII uses is “unevenly” but there may be signs this is changing.

Although the findings show North America and Europe continue to lead the global innovation landscape,  the performance of South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania is currently the most dynamic and they are closing the gap.

There is also still a definite bias toward high income economies too and China is still the only middle-income economy to make it into the top 30.  However, Bulgaria (35), Malaysia (36), Turkey (41), Thailand (43), Viet Nam (44), the Russian Federation (45), India (46), Ukraine (49), and Montenegro (50) have all climbed into top 50. 

This could again be a signal change is afoot but in real terms only Turkey, Viet Nam, India and the Philippines are actually catching up.  Other than China, these are the only economies with the potential to make any significant changes to the global innovation landscape and that change will only happen (according to Soumitra Dutta, Professor of Management at Cornell University) if these countries are:

“Able to successfully complement their domestic innovation with international technology transfer, develop technologically dynamic services that can be traded internationally, and ultimately have shaped more balanced innovation systems”.

How to get Prioritized Patent Examination in the US

The USPTO has just increased the annual limit on the number of applications that can be submitted via its Track One prioritized examination program from 10,000 to 12,000 – so what is it? and why might you want to use it?

What is Track One?

The US Patent and Trade Mark Office, USPTO, Prioritized Patent Examination Program, called ‘Track One’, was launched in 2011 as part of the America Invents Act changes to US patent law.

Track One aims to deliver a final decision on a patent application within 12 months. This can be attractive if you need to get your US patent granted quickly, and there are less requirements involved with Track One than there are with the USPTO’s Accelerated Examination Program.

Entry onto the Track One program requires the filing of a request and payment of a $4000 Track One prioritized examination fee (although this is discounted to $2000 for small entities or $1000 for ‘micro’ entities) and a processing fee.

Why should you use Track One?

While there is an additional cost, the reduction in time is significant.

The average time for a US patent application to complete examination is over 27 months.  With Track One it goes down to 7.8 months.

Track One applications also start the examination process much earlier.  A first Examination Report is usually issued by the USPTO within 3.4 months of filing a Track One request, compared to over 18 months in the case of a standard application.

This means that if speeding up your application is your primary objective, Track One offers an attractive alternative.

However, speed is not the only benefit. 

A 2015 analysis for IP Watchdog found that allowance rates were 19% higher for US patent applications on Track One than for standard applications.  And in their analysis the following year IP Watchdog found that not only were allowance rates higher, but also that Track One requests enjoyed shorter examination timelines and fewer examination reports (although applicants who entered the Track One program after filing a Request for Continued Examination, RCE, appeared to receive fewer of these benefits).

When can you use Track One?

A US patent application is eligible for Track One if:

  • It has no more than four independent claims
  • It has no more than thirty total claims
  • It has no multiple dependent claims

Both first filings and continuing applications (what we would call ‘divisional applications’) are eligible for Track One.

The point of Track One is to seriously speed up examination, so an application will lose its Track One status if you:

  • Request an extension of time
  • File an amendment that contains more than four independent claims/more than thirty total claims/a multiple dependent claim
  • File a Request for Continued Examination, RCE
  • Receive a final Office Action from the USPTO
  • Abandon the application

What to consider before using Track One

Track One applications enjoy higher allowance rates and shorter examination timelines than standard US patent applications.  However, if you are considering using Track One, you will need to balance the potential benefits of speeding up the potential grant (or refusal) of your application against your commercial objectives and, more pointedly, the cost of a Track One request.

Better still, why not have that conversation with a Two IP patent attorney? We have years of experience advising clients on US patent protection and long standing relationships with expert US patent attorneys.

Are EPO ViCo proceedings a good thing for clients?

I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to conducting oral proceedings at the EPO, videoconferencing is here to stay.  However, despite some initial misgivings, are EPO ViCo proceedings actually a good thing for clients?

During the global pandemic the move to video was inevitable. 

It not only allowed us to circumvent the obvious travel restrictions, it also arguably improved the timeliness and efficiency with which oral proceedings in examination, opposition and appeal could be dealt with, albeit remotely.

As things slowly start to open up, it appears that attorneys want to retain the ability to attend hearings virtually.  This is a view supported by the EPO’s recent Progress Report.  It claims ViCo offers a range of tangible benefits including increase efficiency, accessibility, and inclusivity while reducing costs and the impact constant travel has on the environment.

The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) has responded to the report by putting forward the case for the urgent adoption of ViCo as they feel the technology has been proven to be fit for purpose and that ViCo promotes fairness, the right to be heard, and the right of access. 

They did add however that they “strongly oppose” hybrid proceedings; in CIPA’s view mixing in person and ViCo attendance is “inherently unbalanced”.

Why are EPO ViCo proceedings a good thing for clients?

In our view the main benefits of ViCo to the client are:

1. Lower cost

Obviously meeting virtually takes out the usual travel costs and disbursements which immediately represents a significant saving for the client.

There is also the question of the video conferencing platform the EPO uses.  All oral proceeding can be held by Zoom, which can be downloaded for free via Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android meaning even accessing the required technology carries no additional cost.

2. Greater accessibility

Anyone can access Zoom and there are almost no restrictions on the number of people who can join a virtual proceedings.  So as many people as need to can join from both the client side and from the attorney’s team, regardless of location.

Better still as everyone involved can easily attend, conversations can take place during the hearing.  This allows the applicant and their attorney/s to discuss and agree and changes to their strategy as required.  This is made even easier by the technology. 

This is particularly advantageous for opposition oral proceedings – during breaks in the oral proceedings, the team can gather in their own virtual meeting room and can use it to stay in constant contact during the proceedings itself, exchanging messages confidentially using the chat function.

There is also a greater flexibility in terms of start-times.  There have been a number of cases where the EPO has agreed to move the start-time to accommodate participants in different time-zones, most notably in the US.

3. Lower carbon footprint

Along with the reduction in travel costs, with less travel involved ViCo hearings will also have appositive impact on the environment with fewer people flying to Munich and The Hague.

4. Better attorney performance

As the hearings are conducted at the attorney’s desk (or at from the video conferencing room at their offices), they will be more comfortable, better rested, and raring to go having been able to side-step the energy sapping irritations of travelling. 

As they are operating from the office, they also have all the necessary files to hand.  Moreover, they can easily request anything that might be missing without having to worry about when or how that information would arrive if it had to be requested from an office in another country.

5. They are open to public

This means you can attend your competitors’ oppositions and find out more about their patents, their activities, and their plans.  Although admittedly, they will be able to do the same!

Two IP’s patent attorneys have enormous experience of successfully representing clients at oral proceedings at the EPO, both in person and via ViCo.  If you’d like to find out more, please email us.

 

 

Beware of patent and trade mark registration and renewal scams

According to reports from the UK and European Patent Offices, more and more patent and trade mark owners are receiving unsolicited and unexpected requests to pay registration and renewal fees for their IP rights.  However, on closer inspection these demands aren’t coming from official sources, they are a scam.

This type of scam is nothing new.  However, because of the continuing increase in email traffic – a trend that’s only been exacerbated by the pandemic – instances are on the rise.

How does a patent or trade mark scam work?

The scams typically generally split into two types: patent or trade mark applications; and patent and trade mark renewals. 

With a patent or trade mark application scam, the fraudster obtains a patent or trade mark owner’s details once their application becomes public. 

They then use the details to send fake demands for official application or renewal fees from authentic sounding organisations like the ‘World Bureau for Intellectual Property or ‘International Patent and Trade Mark Office’ (you can find a more complete list of the fake IP organisations that have been reported here). 

With a patent or trade mark renewal scam, they will also find the date of each renewal and use that along with the name and address details to make their demands look even more genuine.

More worryingly the invitations will often identify a PCT application by its international publication number, its publication date, the title of the invention, its international application number and its priority information to make it look even more legitimate.

The requests also often come with large red ‘WARNING’ or ‘FINAL DEMAND’ watermarks across the middle to wrong foot the recipient and create additional panic.

However, despite the fact they use official sounding names and official looking stationery, language, and details, they are being created by unscrupulous individuals deliberately attempting to mislead you.

What should you do if you receive an unsolicited demand for patent or trade mark fees?

Firstly, all correspondence relating to your patent or trade mark applications, including renewal fee reminders, will be sent by the relevant IP Office to your attorney to be dealt with and your attorney will report them to you. Any costs relating to your application or a renewal fee will appear in your attorney’s bill to you, clearly accounting for each charge. 

The only exception to this rule is if your attorney has transferred management of renewal fees on a granted patent, trade mark or registered design to a specialist renewals or annuities provider like Renewals Desk, the service Two IP use.

This means if you are in any doubt about the legitimacy of any payment request you receive, you should immediately send a copy to your attorney. 

They can then contact the relevant IP body to report it so that it can be investigated.  They will also confirm there is nothing for you to pay or to worry about.

Under no circumstances should you pay any invoice that does not come from your attorney or from the specialist annuities provider that they use – in our experience, it will be almost impossible for you to get your money back.

If you are based in the UK and want to take the matter further, you can send copies of any scam invoice that you receive to the UK Intellectual Property Office at misleadinginvoices@ipo.gov.uk, to Action Fraud, and/or to your local Trading Standards office in addition to sending a copy to your patent or trade mark attorney.

If you would like to find out more about how Two IP would manage and safeguard your IP portfolio, please email us today.

Does WIPO PROOF provide a more effective way to protect your copyright and designs?

While the patent and trade mark processes are well structured and clearly set out, protecting your other IP rights requires you to prove these ideas were definitely yours at a  specific point in time.  The World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) new online WIPO PROOF service may finally offer a more effective way to protect your copyright and designs.

WIPO PROOF is a new digital service that allows you to date and time-stamp any digital file so you can inexorably prove your ownership of this asset at a specific point in time. 

It has been designed to provide innovators in any industry sector with a fast, effective, instantly accessible and, best of all, inexpensive way to safeguard a digital representation of their literary or artistic works, designs, trade secrets and data.

How does WIPO PROOF improve the current system for protecting copyright and unregistered designs?

Up until now if you needed to prove you owned copyright or design rights on a certain date, the best advice an attorney could give you was to print out or burn a copy of your words or a drawing or photo of your idea then seal it in an envelope with a signed statement from a credible witness and post it to yourself.

Then, as long as you gave the unopened envelope along with an official receipt showing the date of postage to your lawyer for safekeeping, you should be able to uphold your ownership of your copyright or design.

However, this has always been labour-intensive, expensive, and not entirely watertight.

Given the increasingly digital age in which we live, a more reliable and more user-friendly method has long been needed.

How could WIPO proof help you protect your copyright, designs, trade secrets and data?

WIPO describes the new WIPO PROOF service as being “very easy to use, making the service indispensable for any intellectual asset strategy”.   We’d add that at just 20CHF for 5 years, it also seems extremely cost-effective.

However, if it’s going to be adopted it must also be easy to use.  Thankfully this also looks to be the case as the system follows a simple 6-step process:

  1. You access your account
  2. You choose which assets you wish to establish proof of ownership of (in a digital format)
  3. The browser then generates a unique record of your asset
  4. You request a WIPO proof token
  5. Your asset is time stamped and the time and date are added to your token
  6. You can then download unalterable proof the digital token was created at that exact moment in time

Which intellectual property rights can WIPO PROOF be used to protect?

While copyright (the IP right used to protect art, music, lyrics, literature, software, and textile designs) and unregistered designs (the IP right used to protect the physical appearance of your products) are the most obvious applications, there are two more IP rights you could use WIPO PROOF to protect:

1. Trade secrets and know-how

This could include software algorithms, formulae, recipes, manufacturing processes or your client data or business plan, in fact any proprietary information that you can leverage economic value from.

2. Data

Even though the end result of your R&D could well be a new patent application, the data behind your innovation may be valuable in its own right.

Two IP advise on the protection of every type of IP right including copyright and designs as well as patents and trade marks and we are committed to finding a better way of working including finding solutions like WIPO PROOF.  To find out how we could help protect and grow your IP portfolio, please email us today.