Global innovations: Evidence from patent data

Global innovations have been on the rise in the last decade. About 4.5% of all transnational patent filings are global innovations, i.e. research projects that are handled by teams in different continents, and the number has grown quite significantly since the 1990s. Global innovations have also gained importance in international cooperations per se. In 2013, nearly 70% of all international co-patents were global innovations. Global innovations also outperform the average patent in terms of patent quality, i.e. global innovations are significantly higher cited and are broader in terms of market coverage. Europe and North America show the highest numbers of global innovations in absolute terms. In relative terms, i.e. in shares of total filings, however, the countries from the "rest of the world" show the highest engagement in global innovations. German inventors are involved in more than 20% of all global innovations, i.e. every fifth global innovation stems from a cooperation with a German inventor, with North America being the most important "global" partner. Chemistry, pharmaceuticals and related fields show the largest shares of global innovations, from a technological as well as a sector-specific point of view. In mechanical engineering, especially automobiles and vehicles, global innovations play a minor role.