Patents and sectors of economy. Connection between the international patent classification and the systematics of the sectors of economy

The possibilities for the use of patent data as indicators for research and development activities as well as for technological and economic structures and developments constitute an important tool for observation and analysis. Through a recently developed concordancy system between the International Patent Classification and the systematics of the sectors of economy the efficiency of this tool has been considerably increased. By means of this concordance technical and economic facts can be linked and economic statistics connected with patent statistics. There are two directions -- on the one hand towards the origin of inventions by branches, and on the other towards the sectors of use of the inventions. With the aid of the data obtained it is, for example, possible to determine the sectors of economy the patent applications come from and to what extent, and the areas of use they go to, and to what extent. The concordance increases the possibilities of access to patent information. A profile of interest need not necessarily be defined in IPC units, but may also be expressed in units of the systematics of sectors of economy. By means of the concordance patent data and R & D data can be connected on the branch level. A comparison of R & D expenditure on the input side, and patent applications on the output side shows that every sector of economy has a specific input-output relation.