Useful Stats: State Patent Figures, 1998-2001

Knowledge in the "knowledge economy" can be an extremely difficult entity to measure with any consistency. Innovation and technological change, both key drivers of economic growth, are elusive to grasp and even harder to measure reliably in geographic terms. Patent activity, however, has long been considered an important measure of innovation in the New Economy. Patents are seen as an insightful proxy to help measure and understand economic growth through technological change and for research on the economics of innovation.

States may then ask, how inventive are we? How does our "inventiveness" compare with other states? The United States Patent and Trademark Office produces helpful online reports presenting the number of patents filed within each state distributed across technology sector or organization. To standardize the aggregate data, to permit easier comparisons and to help some trends to appear, SSTI has compiled a table showing patent activity per 10,000 residents for the most recent four years of data, 1998-2001.

Idaho maintained the top spot for number of patents per 10,000 people throughout the time frame, largely driven by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. Vermont rose from 5th in 1998 to 2nd in 2001. North Dakota made the biggest jump in ranking position from 44th in 1998 to 35th in 2001. Oklahoma presented the second largest gain, moving up to 30th in 2001 from 37th in 1998.

SSTI's table can be viewed at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/031403t.htm