Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico Direzione Generale per la Lotta alla Contraffazione – Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi

Statistics on Italian Patent Applications. A general overview and highlights on specific technological sectors

Divisione VII – Brevetti nazionali, europei e domande internazionali di brevetto Loredana Guglielmetti

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Outline

Innovation trends analyses

WIPO Technology Concordance Table

Technological fields of Italian patents

Technological fields of European patents validated in Italy

Focus on GREEN TECHNOLOGIES

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Innovation trends analyses Use of Patent Data

Faults:

Some kind of innovation is not included (for ex.; organization or logistics evolution, …)

Not all technical innovations are patented (for ex., use of trade secrets)

Not all companies correctly use patent protection

Some patents have more technological relevance than others

High or low patent-intensive fields ( ex: HIGH: Pharmaceuticals – Biotechnology – LOW: AI and IoT) WIPO, Economic research, N. 34, May 2017

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Innovation trends analyses Use of Patent Data

However patent is an important and valuable technological innovation and market trends indicator .

Patent DB contain the latest technological information, hardly found in other sources

Patent data provide rich and valuable information about the innovation activity of a specific country

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Italian Patent Data

General analysis carried out by UIBM:

Data sources: IT patent Register - EP Register

IPC

Patent applications rather than granted p.

Patent application refers to a SINGLE patent application

patent data from 2008 to 2018

Today data on patents (inventions) filed 2014-2018 are presented

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Patent applications filed with UIBM 2014- 2018

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year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Inventions 9.382 9.687 9.821 9.668 9.822

Utility

models 2.497 2.910 2.198 2.096 1.967

Total 11.879 11.977 12.019 11.764 11.789

Patent Search Strategy : IPC - International Patent Classification

Italian patents are classified under the IPC scheme, according to the technology areas they relate to (last update2019.01)

Classification allows:

• Invention identification according to its technological area, thus facilitating the archiviation

• Quick access to patent documents through careful search. Prior art search would be very difficult without classification, considering that a search through only keywords, for ex., could retrieve inaccurate or incomplete results

• Correctly assign patent applications to examiners

• Study technological innovation trends

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Patent Search Strategy : Technology Concordance Table (TCT)

In 2008 WIPO defined 5 technological sectors, subdivided into 35 broad, omogeneous technological fields, to group and categorise patents according to the classification attributed to them under the IPC scheme (http://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/technology_concordance.html)

WIPO TCT represents a valuable means for retrieving data and study trends in technological sector allowing economic analyses and performance comparisons of different countries or geographical areas.

Mechanical engineering

Transport

Mechanical elements

…

Chemistry

Chemical engineering

Pharmaceuticals

Biotechnology

…..

Instruments

Medical technology

Measurement

…

Electrical engineering

Computer technology

Telecommunications

…

Other fields

Civil engineering

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Patent Search Strategy : Technology Concordance Table

PROVIDE USERS WITH AN OVERVIEW OF THE INNOVATION PERFORMANCE OF THE COUNTRY PATENT-BASED

A similar approach – based on WIPO TCT - has been adopted by UIBM.

Patent applications filed from 01.01.2014 to 31.12.2018* has been retrieved placing each of them in one of the 35 technological fields of the TCT

First filings admitted to the novelty search phase (inventions)

The classification of the European examiner put on the search report (section, class, subclass and group )

First classification in case of multiple classes ; generally considered as the most relevant

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Patent applications sent to EPO for NS

10

year Total

filings

Appl.

claiming

priority

First

filings

sento to

EPO- NS

Applicatio

ns NOT

sent to

EPO (first

filings)

%

Sent to EPO

2014 9382 545 8245 592 87,88%

2015 9687 600 8488 599 87,62%

2016

9821 646 8643 532

88,01%

2017 9668 632 8614 422 89,10%

2018 9822 632 8691 499 88,49%

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Technology Concordance Table

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Technological field 2014

%

2015

%

2016

%

2017

%

2018

%

Mechanical

engineering 39,58 39,08 39,63 38,81 38,60

Chemistry 15,90 16,49 15,51 16,09 16,45

Instruments

13,07 13,39 13,69 13,81 13,84

Electrical

engineering 10,62 11,51 11,83 11,89 11,96

Other fields 20,83 19,53 19,33 19,39 19,15

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Technology Concordance Table

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Mechanical engineering

Technological field appl. % appl. % appl. % appl. % appl. % aver. %

Mechanical engineering 39,58% 39,08% 39,63% 38,81% 38,60% 39,17%Handling 608 7,38% 572 6,72% 678 7,90% 651 7,61% 473 7,62% 7,44%

Transport 562 6,83% 607 7,13% 623 7,26% 665 7,78% 502 8,09% 7,38%

Other special machines 587 7,13% 583 6,85% 608 7,08% 639 7,47% 449 7,24% 7,15%

Machine tools 356 4,32% 326 3,83% 340 3,96% 325 3,80% 245 3,95% 3,97%

Mechanical elements 342 4,15% 368 4,33% 351 4,09% 299 3,50% 226 3,64% 3,96%

Engines, pumps, turbines 323 3,92% 342 4,02% 333 3,88% 290 3,39% 226 3,64% 3,78%

Thermal processes and apparatus 285 3,46% 290 3,41% 247 2,88% 237 2,77% 148 2,39% 3,01%

Textile and paper machines 196 2,38% 237 2,79% 223 2,60% 213 2,49% 126 2,03% 2,48%

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 *

Mechanical engineering account for about 40% of Italian patent applications, but this is a too broad analysis. It is necessary to analyse each technical field the ME area is composed of

More detailed analises are possible through TCT

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Mechanical engineering - Handling

Technological field appl. % appl. % appl. % appl. % appl. % aver. %

Mechanical engineering 39,58% 39,08% 39,63% 38,81% 38,60% 39,17%Handling 678 7,90% 651 7,61% 572 6,72% 608 7,38% 473 7,62% 7,44%

B65D% 222 2,59% 241 2,82% 215 2,53% 229 2,78% 179 2,88% 2,71%

B65B% 170 1,98% 143 1,67% 112 1,32% 125 1,52% 90 1,45% 1,60%

B65G% 89 1,04% 71 0,83% 72 0,85% 73 0,89% 69 1,11% 0,93%

B65H% 63 0,73% 56 0,65% 49 0,58% 53 0,64% 46 0,74% 0,67%

B25J% 26 0,30% 21 0,25% 27 0,32% 16 0,19% 24 0,39% 0,28%

B66F% 26 0,30% 27 0,32% 12 0,14% 22 0,27% 10 0,16% 0,24%

B66C% 16 0,19% 18 0,21% 9 0,11% 27 0,33% 16 0,26% 0,21%

B67D% 21 0,24% 15 0,18% 17 0,20% 19 0,23% 8 0,13% 0,20%

B65C% 7 0,08% 19 0,22% 16 0,19% 13 0,16% 11 0,18% 0,16%

B66B% 18 0,21% 13 0,15% 15 0,18% 12 0,15% 3 0,05% 0,15%

B67C% 10 0,12% 14 0,16% 13 0,15% 8 0,10% 10 0,16% 0,14%

B67B% 10 0,12% 8 0,09% 12 0,14% 6 0,07% 5 0,08% 0,10%

B66D% 0,00% 5 0,06% 3 0,04% 5 0,06% 2 0,03% 0,04%

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 *

B65D%

• CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES 14 Guglielmetti

Main Fields of Italian patenting activity

Technological field Sub-fields % applications

1 Civil engineering

Building; doors; windows; shutters; ladders locks; keys; construction of

roads; railways; or bridges; hydraulic engineering; foundations; soil

shifting; earth drilling; mining;

7,84%

2 Handling

Conveying; packing; storing

7,44%

3 Transport Vehicle parts, railway-train equipment, cycles, ships and aviation 7,38%

4 Other special machines

Agriculture, planning, meat processing, grinding, plastics processing,

glass, weapons and bullets

7,15%

5 Medical technology Medical and veterinary science, hygiene 6,42%

6 Furniture, games Furniture, housewares, sports and toys 6,18%

7 Other consumer goods

Tobacco industry, clothing, footwear, jewelry, bookbinding, office

accessories, upholstery, fabric treatment, refrigerators, musical

instruments

5,64%

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Electrical machinery,

apparatus, energy

Lighting, elements of electrical engineering, production /

transformation and distribution of electricity

4,69% 15

A FOCUS ON GREEN TECHNOLOGIES

What are green technologies?

Green technologies are environmentally sound technologies as defined in Chapter 34 of Agenda 21 (The United Nations Program of Action from Rio, 1992).

Green technologies “protect the environment, are less polluting, use all resources in a more sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle residual waste in a more acceptable manner than the technologies for which they were substitutes”.

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A FOCUS ON GREEN TECHNOLOGIES ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGIES (ESTS) Source: Innovation and Diffusion of Green Technologies: The role of IP and other Enabling Factors, wipo_rep_gc_2015_1

MITIGATION ADAPTATION

Renewable energy technologies (e.g.

biofuels, solar photovoltaic, solar

thermal, wind)

Climate-resistant infrastructures

(e.g. sea walls, drainage capacity,

water, forest and biodiversity

management)

Carbon capture and storage Irrigation systems

Electric and hybrid vehicles Drought-resistant crops

Smart power grids Higher-yield seeds (for more arid

and saline soils)

Clean coal technologies

Green buildings

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A FOCUS ON GREEN TECHNOLOGIES PATENTS

USE of PATENTS as a source of information

Finding green technologies in patent

GTs have applications in a wide range of technical areas. To identify GTs PATENTS there is NO single approach, NO unique set of indicators

• OECD: Green indicators

• EPO: specific tagging scheme = Y02/Y04 SCHEME

• WIPO: IPC GREEN INVENTORY

• …

Need to: broaden data inspection to combination of classification and keywords, etc, that should be used with other information in order to draw meaningful conclusions

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A FOCUS ON GREEN TECHNOLOGIES

At UIBM IPC is currently used for classification of national patent applications

Y02/Y04 scheme cannot be used

Different search strategies have been adopted…

WIPO IPC green inventory

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IPC Green Inventory

Launched in 2010 by as an online tool for searching and retrieving patent in GTs , the IPC Green Inventory was developed by the IPC Committee of Experts, facilitates searches for patent information relating to Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs), as listed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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IPC Green Inventory

As ESTs are scattered across the IPC in many technical fields, the Inventory facilitates the search and retrieval of patents

The IPC Green Inventory contains about 200 topics that are directly relevant to GTs, organized into 7 major subject areas.

Each topic is linked with the most relevant IPC symbols

IPC Green Inventory. Wipo_pub_1434_09

https://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/en/green_inventory

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IPC GREEN INVENTORY - WIPO

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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PRODUCTION

Ex., bio fuel, wind , solar, geothermal energy,

…

C10L - F02C

H01M-C10B- C10J

F03G-F03D-F24S-H02S

F24T-F24V- F03G

TRANSPORTATION

Ex., rail vehicles, marine vessel propulsion, ..

B61- B64G

ENERGY CONSERVATION

Ex., storage, supply, thermal building

insolation, ..

B60K-B60W

H01M-H01G-H02J H02J-B60L-G01R C09K-

F24H-F28D- E04B- F03G-

WASTE MANAGEMENT

treatment of waste, ..

B09B-B65F- F23G

AGRICULTURE /FORESTRY

Alternative irrigation, pesticides, soil …..

A01G- A01N- C09K-E02D

ADMINISTRATIVE, REGULATORY

OR DESIGN ASPECTS

G06Q-G08G- E04H

NUCLEAR POWER GENERATION

Gas turbine power plants , …

G21- F02C

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Italian Patent applications in ESTs

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730

822 818 882

663

9% 10% 10% 10%

11%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018*

Tot.Dep-EST EST %EST

Filing Years

Technical area 14 15 16 17 18* ADMINISTRATIVE, REGULATORY OR DESIGN ASPECTS

160 176 202 211 158

WASTE MANAGEMENT

150 165 171 157 116

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PRODUCTION

138 167 159 170 122

ENERGY CONSERVATION

161 179 135 162 111

TRANSPORTATION 79 93 95 120 96 AGRICULTURE / FORESTRY

33 31 37 55 47

NUCLEAR POWER GENERATION

9 11 19 7 13

TOT 730 822 818 882 663

Italian Patent applications in ESTs

Technical Field 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

average

% % % % %

1 ADMINISTRATIVE, REGULATORY OR DESIGN ASPECTS 21,92% 21,41% 24,69% 23,92% 23,83% 23,17%

2 WASTE MANAGEMENT 20,55% 20,07% 20,90% 17,80% 17,50% 19,39%

3 ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PRODUCTION 18,90% 20,32% 19,44% 19,27% 18,40% 19,31%

4 ENERGY CONSERVATION 22,05% 21,78% 16,50% 18,37% 16,74% 19,11%

5 TRANSPORTATION 10,82% 11,31% 11,61% 13,61% 14,48% 12,34%

6 AGRICULTURE / FORESTRY 4,52% 3,77% 4,52% 6,24% 7,09% 5,19%

7 NUCLEAR POWER GENERATION 1,23% 1,34% 2,32% 0,79% 1,96% 1,51%

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Top Technical Fields in EST filed at UIBM (2014-2018)

Technical Field Tot. % Carbon/emissions trading, e.g. pollution credits 19,97% Pollution control 12,75% Vehicles other than rail vehicles 6,64% Solar energy 6,41% Thermal building insulation, in general 6,08% Power supply circuitry 5,39%

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A FOCUS ON GREEN TECHNOLOGIES

ESTs are useless until they are actually implemented and used.

To be effectively disseminated and used GTs require support by both

private and public sectors.

problems

Market failures (substitutability, prices of competing and complementary

goods, ....)

Specific uncertainties (future environmental policies, technology transfer…)

Enabling factors

Funding mechanism

Business partnership

Protection/enforcement of IP rights

Additional incentives

……

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Thank you for your attention!

loredana.guglielmetti@mise.gov.it

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