What's the recipe for innovation, and how do you measure how innovative a country is? A number of factors can determine the latter, including the number of scientists and engineers a country has and how much money the government invests in research and development. But one bottom line figure is the output, measured in the number of patents filed at the three biggest patent offices around the world.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development categorizes patent filings into "triadic patent families," or a set of patent applications made at all three of the world's main patent offices: The European Patent Office, the Japan Patent Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Here are Europe's top "triadic" filers, according to data available from the OECD. Additional information data about gross domestic product also comes from the OECD. Information about patents filed in Europe was provided by the European Patent Organization.
1. Switzerland
Patents filed: 106.7 per million inhabitants
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 6.1
Key companies for innovation: Novartis, Roche
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Novartis with 440 applications
2. Germany
Patents filed: 76 per million inhabitants
Annual research and development spending: 2.5% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 7.2
Key companies for innovation: Siemens, BASF, Bosch, Bayer
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Siemens with 2,319 applications
3. Netherlands
Patents filed: 72.6 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 1.7% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 4.9
Key companies for innovation: Philips Electronics, Royal Dutch Shell
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Philips with 4,425 applications
4. Sweden
Patents filed: 72.3 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 3.8% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 12.7
Key companies for innovation: Ericsson, ABB, Volvo, TeliaSonera
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Ericsson with 485 applications
5. Luxembourg
Patents filed: 51.7 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 1.6% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 7.3
Key companies for innovation: ArcelorMittal, RTL Group
6. Finland
Patents filed: 50.3 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 3.5% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 16.6
Key companies for innovation: Nokia, Stora Enso
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Nokia with 882 applications
7. Denmark
Patents filed: 40.5 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 2.4% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 10.2
Key companies for innovation: Novo Nordisk, Vestas Wind Systems
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Novo Nordisk with 252 applications
8. France
Patents filed: 39.3 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 2.1% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 8.2
Key companies for innovation: Thomson SA, Alcatel-Lucent, L'Oreal
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Thomson with 569 applications
9. Austria
Patents filed: 36.5 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending:2.5% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 7.2
Key companies for innovation: Telekom Austria
10. Belgium
Patents filed: 31.8 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 1.9% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 8
Key companies for innovation: InBev, Belgacom, UCB
11. United Kingdom
Patents filed: 26.4 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 1.8% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 5.8
Key companies for innovation: Unilever, AstraZeneca, BT Group
Top filer to European Patent Organization: Unilever with 399 applications
12. Norway
Patents filed: 24.1 per million inhabitants
Annual R&D spending: 1.5% of GDP
Full-time researchers per 1,000 employees: 9.2
Key companies for innovation: StatoilHydro, Telenor, Yara International
