European Innovation and Technology Diffusion: Evidence from Patenting Data Report on Research Project

The European area has developed a regional patenting system that has been evolving since the late 1970s. Major changes have been made to patenting procedures, patent rights, and patenting costs. Further changes are expected in the European region with the adoption of the Community Patent Convention (CPC), which will further streamline procedures and introduce new laws. The question of interest is how these new rules and institutions have affected technological activity. Technological activity is rather complex, involving firms’ decisions to invest in research and development, their strategic decisions to patent, innovate, and license their innovations, among other activities. The focus of this project is on R&D and patenting decisions. This paper reports on the tentative findings on patenting decisions. Studying the effects on R&D is a work in progress.