Patent Analysis and Public Policy in the Field of Intellectual Property

Introduction. The level of technological development of a country is determined by many factors, including the practical application of scientific discoveries. Monitoring patent information, including the country of the patent applicant or recipient, allows us to identify the activity of R&D personnel on the IP market, their bias for certain research areas and research topics, as well as recognize research areas expecting innovative products in the near future. In many cases, in Russia indicators of patent activity also suggest the general trend of scientific and technological development. In light of this they are generally used to make strategic decisions at the federal level in identifying promising key areas of scientific and technical activity, though in a simplified form. We believe, that this approach requires consideration and critical analysis in view of the fact that the nature and prospects of scientific and technical activity are determined by the multiplicity of different factors including personnel, technical, organizational, institutional and other components. Methods. The research is based on methods of retrospective and comparative analysis of data in the field of patent activity in Russia and foreign countries, as well as deductive and inductive analysis of the works of other authors of the research subject. The analysis of the number of patent applications and patents granted for inventions in Russia and globally is based on data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for 2014–2018. Results and Discussion. Analysis of patenting dynamics in 35 technological areas of WIPO in Russia and in the world in retrospect for 5 years is made. The analysis of the number of patent applications of the leading countries according to the WIPO allowed to establish that in Russia, patent activity in a number of technological areas corresponds to global trends in patenting. Several technological areas that are not leaders in the number of patents granted on the world level show the greatest patent activity in Russia. At the same time, the results of the study indicate that the topics of the most active WIPO technology areas in terms of volume both in Russia and in the world as a whole do not fully correspond to the topics of technological areas designated as priority technologies in the SNTR Strategy and reflected as “cross-cutting” technologies of National technology initiative. The necessity of revising approaches to the implementation of the public scientific and technological policy in the sphere of intellectual property and the implementation of technological development priorities is justified, taking into account not only the dynamics of patent activity and global trends in technological development, but also the multiplicity of factors of socio-economic and scientific-technological development. In article there are the suggestions for adjustments to the main tools of the public scientific and technological policy in the sphere of intellectual property reflected in the National Project “Science”, with the need to take into account the requests of organizations in the real sector of the economy, the effectiveness of technological activities, the state of the existing scientific and technological potential of the regions, its industry and corporate features. A predictive model {A; B; C; (...); n} = f (H; P; F; Ind; Inf; Ext) for forecasting the values of indicators related to the development of the sphere of intellectual property and taken into account in the government program “Scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation” is proposed. The model takes into account the following factors: human resources, effectiveness of intellectual activity (patenting), financial resources, development of the economy by industry, research infrastructure, situation in the world economy, as well as dynamics of patenting in other countries (external influences). The concept of a technological atlas is revealed. The technological atlas is presented as a systematic map that, in a thematic, sectoral and corporate context, gives statistical information about the results of scientific and technological development, and the scientific and technical potential by regions of the country. Conclusion. Patent analysis is a tool for a comprehensive study of the existing backlogs of organizations, regions, countries or the world as a whole in relation to technological areas. Taking into account the multiplicity of different factors of scientific and technological development allows us to critically look at the measures implemented as the part of public scientific and technological policy and propose adjustments to the list of public policy instruments in the sphere of intellectual property, as well as the planned values of the relevant indicators reflected in government programs, and at the same time, to forecast promising areas of technological development of various sectors of the economy, individual organizations and firms, taking into account the possibility of new developments and their future commercialization. To select reasonable measures of government support for the sphere of intellectual property at the regional level, a technological atlas can be a work resource, which is included not only retrospective information on patenting trends, but also a number of indicators of scientific and technological development. It will contribute to the formation of reasonable development forecasts relevant to perspective technological areas in various sectors of the economy, taking into account regional specifics.