Who Patents in Czech Republic?

Analysis of Patent Activity of Czech Enterprises in 1997 – 2017.

Abstract

Purpose of the article is to analyse trends in patenting activities and reveal the strength of patenting companies in the market.

Methodology/methods of the research is based on dataset collected from PATSTAT database, supplemented from UPV database, matched with owner’s ID numbers using AMADEUS database and extended from financial and legal data retrieved from ORBIS Academic database. The analysed sample consists of 914 companies and their 2925 patents. Aggregated patent data retrieved from Czech Statistical Office were subjected to a graphical trend analysis. The size of a population was derived from the aggregated data as a prerequisite for sampling fraction estimation. The market share was estimated by proportioning sales of the firms in the sample to the sales in a whole respective industry.

Scientific aim is to validate the extensive dataset that covers data since the nineties. Additional aim is to explore the patenting activities of Czech enterprises from novel perspective, namely through estimating the market shares on which these firms operate, considering their size.

Findings show that two thirds of patent owners are SMEs, though they own only one third of patents. Large companies are more likely to build a big patent portfolio. The size of the portfolio for most companies (95 %) does not exceed nine patents. Large firms are gaining higher market shares in industries where they lead in patenting, but also where SMEs predominate in patenting. The market share analysis revealed that patenting firms are leaders in industries, where patenting is rare.

Conclusions The presented findings indicate that large companies are better at benefiting from patent system, however SMEs are more active. The analysis considered only the patent grant and not the patent life. It gives an opportunity for further research based on in depth analysis of patents and determinants of their value.