The conventional perception of Japan as an innovator in the area of advanced manufacturing techniques is reinforced by the large number of robot inventions for which Japanese firms have sought international patent protection. Japan led all other countries in the total number of international patent families in robot technology created during the entire 1980-90 period. (See figure 6-23 and appendix table 6-22.) Japan held 39 percent of the 3,264 international patent families created during this decade, followed by the United States (23 percent), West Germany (17 percent), France (12 percent), and Great Britain (6 percent).

Rankings for Japan and the United States change somewhat when the total number of foreign applications associated with each country's robot technology is considered. Looking at the entire 1981-90 period, the United States ranks slightly ahead of Japan (28 versus 27 percent), but the United States overtakes Japan only after U.S. firms doubled their foreign patent activity in robot technology in the 1986-90 period compared with 1981 to 1985. Japanese firms also increased their foreign patent activity in the latter half of the decade, but not to the extent recorded for the United States. (See text table 6-4.)

Data were also compiled for the former East Germany and South Korea. While East Germany showed considerable domestic patent activity involving robot technology, that same level of technological activity is not evident when data on international families are examined. This may reflect their isolation from trade with the Western world. Data for South Korea show only a few domestic patents, and South Korean companies have sought international patent protection for nearly all of these robot inventions. This indicates a high interest in international commercialization common to trade-based economies of newly industrializing countries like South Korea.

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