Study: Research productivity has been trending down in the U.S.

On behalf of Kaufhold & Dix Patent Law posted in Patent Law on Wednesday, September 27, 2017.

Has it become harder to come up with big new ideas? A recent Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research study suggests that, here in the U.S., it has in the research and development world.

The study looked at research productivity in the United States. This is the amount of innovation being generated per scientist/inventor. The study found that, over the past several decades, research productivity has gone down significantly in the country. Meanwhile, there has been a significant increase in the number of people involved in research and development efforts over this same period.

Among the things the study noted these findings reflect are that:

• New big ideas are becoming more and more difficult to come across.
• The amount of effort and resources required for innovation is steadily growing.

These trends can pose some significant challenges. For one, they could make economic growth increasingly difficult in the U.S., given the important role innovation can play in such growth.

Also, these trends could pose significant challenges for individual inventors. They underscore how much in resources, time and effort an inventor may end up having to invest in their quest to develop new innovations.

So, when an inventor does come up with a new innovation, it can represent a very big investment and a very hard-fought reward. Given this, protecting a new innovation can be a very high priority for an inventor. For some types of innovations, patents are the main form of protection available. Challenges can arise during an inventor’s efforts to get patent protection for a new invention, given things such as the complexity of the patent process. Guidance on the patent process and dealing with its more challenging aspects can be sought out from skilled patent lawyers.