رمزگشایی نوآوری: اکتشاف اختراع ثبت شده USPTO اعطا شده به مخترعان ایرانی

Since nearly a decade ago, Iranian policy circles have declared innovation and development of science-based industries as a priority area. This paper utilizes the emerging Iranian patent stock in the USPTO to ascertain progress on this front. Results indicate that there are policy traces in the emerging patent portfolio as proxied by sponsorship statements in 28% of all patents. However, there is little evidence of technological specialization. Breaking down the portfolio into foreign-assigned, Iranian-assigned, unassigned and Iranian-sponsored patents, indicates that foreign-assigned, followed by Iranian-assigned patents are of higher quality and potential value. Nearly half of the patents are unassigned and 40% are assigned to foreign entities. Lack of ownership assignment can be a hurdle to effective exploitation, defense and maintenance of patents. The analysis is concluded by relevant policy lessons.

Innovation is an age-old human endeavor with far reaching socio-economic implications. Nonetheless, it has not always been the focus of major scholarly efforts. It has increasingly become clear that technological change is a major driver of long-run economic growth. Traditionally, capital accumulation, labor input and the working of markets have received more attention vis-à-vis economic development. However, recent years have seen an upsurge of interest in the role of technological advancement in economic and social change [1] and [2]. An important subcurrent in the abovementioned research deals with factors impacting innovation and the intricate interaction between basic science, technological development and the actors involved. Various methodologies and approaches have been utilized. A number of holistic frameworks (e.g. the triple helix) seek to model the web of actors and influences [3]. With the advent of high-quality data and the ease of access to patent databases, a body of literature relies on patent citation analysis [4]. Patents contain important information regarding crucial innovative technologies, their scientific and technical precedents and key actors involved. Iran has enjoyed a wave of interest in high-tech and science-based industries since over a decade ago. A number of sectoral initiatives and policies have also been promulgated. As a case in point, the Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council (INIC) formed in 2003 and has launched a program encouraging patenting Iranian innovations [5]. Until recently, there were not much patented innovations by Iranian subjects in the USPTO [6]. However, a cursory look reveals a surge in patenting. An exhaustive research on the international patenting performance of the country is virtually non-existent. Previous research has largely focused on mapping the Iranian intellectual property (IP) system and development [5], [6], [7] and [8]. This study attempts to scrutinize the emerging stock of Iranian patents in the USPTO as a manifestation of the innovative activities of the country. This paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 will review the importance of patent documents as a source of innovation-related information. Section 3 will deal with the Iranian innovation performance as proxied by USPTO patents bearing Iranian inventors. Technological specialization, ownership, scope of inventions, quality and value of patents and the geographical characteristics of inventions are topics that will be dealt with. A discussion of the results and policy implications will conclude the paper.

Since over a decade ago, Iran launched certain initiatives to gain a foothold in the high-tech, science-based industries. The Iranian patent stock shows some of these initiatives have yielded results in terms of generating patenting activity. Seventeen patents (85% of the Iranian sponsored pool) cite INSF and four INIC sponsorship (two jointly sponsored by both). One patent is sponsored by a Science and Technology Town initiative. The earliest file date of sponsored patents is July 2007. However, a note of caution is necessary. Article 18 of the fifth social and cultural development plan (2005–2010), calls for government incentives for international patenting. In line with this mandate, INSF has been sponsoring and encouraging international patenting. INSF website reasons that “while international publishing has grown steadily, publishing the results of applied research benefits foreign countries rather than the authors; hence, before publishing, it is better to attempt to patent the findings”. As of August 7, 2012, 437 requests had been received, 256 rejected or not followed through, 19 culminated in patenting and 81 approaching grant stage. To begin with, not all research results will be patentable. On the other hand, four complementary functions or rationales underpin patent protection: the incentive function to resolve the appropriability problem; the transactional function to facilitate exchange of intangibles; the disclosure function, and the signaling function to prove innovative capability [51]. It seems the transactional and signaling functions are emphasized by the Iranian policymakers. However, the fact that nearly half of the patents are unassigned, casts doubt on the rationale of the initiative. Logically, assigned patents would have a better chance of commercial exploitation, defense and maintenance because of access to institutional resources. Foreign-assigned patents were of better quality and potential value on most grounds explored in this study. Iranian-assigned patents, in most cases, were the second best category. This might tentatively indicate that spurring patenting without proper institutional underpinnings and as a substitute for publishing might not yield optimal results. Having said this, some research has shown that there might be a learning process in patenting and over time quality of patenting may increase [52]. However, patenting for the sake of patenting and as a reaction to temporary policy incentives might not be desirable in itself. The fact that about 60% of international patenting requests were rejected or not followed though, can be an indication of attracting low-quality proposals. Another important issue is the gap between patenting and commercialization of inventions. Only 1.5% of patents are ever litigated and between 55% and 76% of USPTO patents fail to pay maintenance fees by the end of their terms. These statistics indicate that most issued patents have little commercial value [53]. Setting aside the intrinsic commercial value of patents, commercialization of patents requires an institutional support web in the national innovation system (NIS) of the country. Entrepreneurship in Iran is not innovation driven due to deficiencies in the NIS. The Iranian NIS is a supply-push system and there are weak links in knowledge transfer and commercialization [54] and [55]. Spurring patenting is one thing and capturing commercial benefits quite another. All but one granted patents listed by INSF are USPTO patents. The one non-USPTO patent is a foreign application of a USPTO patent. However, further research could try to emulate this study in the EPO and other relevant jurisdictions to highlight possible variations in patenting behavior by Iranian inventors. As a final note, while there is a long history of using patent data to understand invention and innovation dynamics, patent-based indicators have limitations. For instance, not all inventions are being patented and the propensity to patent differs among industries [17]. Additionally, patenting is intrinsically a legal procedure [56]; patents are not automatically valid and their validity can be challenged in court [10].