The Anatomy of Chinese Innovation: Insights on Patent Quality and Ownership

We develop a new method to measure the importance of a patent for subsequent innovation, based on the use of a Large Language Model to process patent text data and a new model of the innovation process. We apply this method to study the evolution of patenting in China from 1985-2019, also classifying patent ownership using a comprehensive business registry. Our analysis yields seven novel facts about Chinese patenting. Among these are that patenting has become narrower and less innovative over time; that knowledge within China has become more important than knowledge outside of China for directing innovative activity in China; and that knowledge produced by Chinese entities within China has been more important than knowledge produced by foreign entities filing patents in China.

Böing, Philipp, Loren Brandt, Ruochen Dai, Kevin Lim und Bettina Peters (2024), The Anatomy of Chinese Innovation: Insights on Patent Quality and Ownership, IZA Discussion Papers, Bonn