Innovation market: changing priorities
Biological sciences have pushed hi-tech in the innovation market
The life sciences – biotechnology, medicine and healthcare – are increasingly winning the palm in innovation from the high-tech sector, according to an analysis of world patents conducted by Reuters.
The past year 2014 was a record year in terms of the number of applications filed or patents received: humanity has never been so inventive, whether it is a project of an unmanned car, new cancer drugs or the creation of bionic prostheses.
At the same time, the growth rate is slowing down, and in 2014 the number of patents increased by only 3 percent, which was the smallest annual increase since the end of the global recession in 2009. In previous years, this growth was estimated to be close to double-digit values.
This was partly due to the tightening of patent laws in the United States, but there are also signs of a more fundamental shift: the number of scientific publications – the forerunner of patent applications – in 12 fields of science fell by 22 percent.
So, in 2014, the number of patents in the field of semiconductors decreased by 5 percent, and this may lead to problems in other fields of science, since microchips are the cornerstone for such innovative areas as wearable gadgets, big data and the so-called "Internet of things".
Nevertheless, considering that last year the number of inventions exceeded 2.1 million, it is too early to talk about a crisis of new ideas.
The main sectors where scientific thought beat most vividly in 2014 were pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies, according to the 2015 State of Innovation study (by clicking on the link, you can download the full text of the report for free: 80 pages pdf, 2.5 M – VM). The number of patents in these fields of science increased by 12 and 7 percent, respectively.
The food industry, beverages and tobacco also showed a noticeable increase, where the number of patents soared by 21 percent, and in the segment of cosmetics and healthy lifestyle – by 8.
These areas have also become flagships of convergence and the creation of products such as nutraceuticals – foods or beverages that make up for the deficiency of biologically active substances in food – and cosmeceuticals – a combination of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
The world's largest companies, led by Samsung, entered the list of the 25 largest recipients of patents in 9 of the 12 areas analyzed in the study, began to erase the boundaries.
In addition to watching Samsung TV and using a smartphone, the South Korean giant wants consumers to buy medicines made by Samsung, drink Samsung energy drinks and use Samsung cosmetics.
The powerful breakthrough of the Korean company, which followed a fierce patent battle with Apple, reflects the growing activity of Asian companies in the field of the so-called "smart economy".
China is also a growing force in the patent market: its attacking link consists of giants such as Huawei and ZTE, as well as institutes led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru02.06.2015