Digital technologies are often widely applicable and globally marketable, leading inventors to seek intellectual property protection for them in multiple markets. The United States is an especially important market, as almost all (92%) IP5 patent families (patents filed in two or more countries, at least one being in the top 5 national patent offices) for ICT-related technologies are filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). China has the second most filings at almost 60%. The top inventor country for ICT-related IP5 patent families filed at the USPTO is Japan (24%), rather than the United States (17%), but US-located inventors account for around a quarter of ICT-related IP5 patent families at the European Patent Office and over half at patent offices in Canada, Australia and Israel.
Developing digital technologies can entail significant investment in research and development (R&D). ICT-related patents make-up a considerable portion of the top 2000 R&D-performing companies’ patent portfolios, especially in ICT services, publishing and broadcasting, and telecommunications industries. The majority of patents held by top R&D-performers in the computers and electronics industry are also ICT-related. Finance and insurance stands out as an industry that is not directly related to ICT, but where a large share of patents are ICT-related (70%).
Most of the top R&D-performing companies are multi-national enterprises (MNEs). One potential effect that can be associated with this is the diffusion of technologies across borders. Hosting a local MNE affiliate can be one way for economies to gain access to certain technologies. Similarly, one business may take a stake in another business, at home or abroad, to gain access to technology it owns. The extent to which such transactions happen across borders depends on the extent of regulatory and other restrictions in the investee country. The OECD Foreign Direct Investment Regulatory Restrictiveness Index (FDI RRI) gathers information on the strength of statutory restrictions in each country related to the taking of equity stakes in domestic companies by foreign parties, requirements for official approval, rules on the appointment of directors and other key personnel, and other areas of potential restriction. Overall, FDI restrictiveness still varies markedly between countries. Indonesia and China have the highest overall scores, at around 0.3. In China, the telecommunications sector – which is especially reliant on digital technologies – is particularly highly restricted (0.75). Telecommunications restrictions are also higher than the average level of restriction in non-European OECD countries and in Sweden. EU countries show relatively fewer restrictions, with many having zero restrictions in telecommunications.
