U.S. Patents Take a Fall

BusinessWeek (Arndt) - Hurt by smaller R&D budgets and offshoring, U.S. patent applications fell this year and Yankees are winning fewer grants than non-residents.

The 2.3% drop in overall patent applications is likely a byproduct of the Great Recession, as companies slash R&D budgets to help maintain profits. The last decline was in 1996, when new global rules on the duration of patent protection went into effect, prompting applicants to hustle and file in 1995. The only other time over the past three decades that the number of patent seekers fell was in 1983, when the U.S. was emerging from a deep recession.

As before, the slide in applications will likely last just a year. But 2008 could turn out to be the last time the U.S. won the patent race.