EU = European Union.

NOTES: Alternative-energy and pollution-control technologies include alternative energy, energy storage, smart grid, and pollution mitigation. Alternative energy includes solar, wind, nuclear, bioenergy, hydropower, wave, tidal, ocean, geothermal, and electric and hybrid automobilies. Pollution mitigation includes recycling; control of air, water, and solid waste pollution; environmental remediation; cleaner coal; and capture and storage of carbon and other greenhouse gases. Energy storage includes batteries, compressed air, flywheels, superconductivity, magnet energy systems, ultracapacitors, hydrogen production and storage, and thermal energy. Technologies are classified by The Patent Board^™ Patent grants are fractionally allocated among countries/economies on the basis of the proportion of the residences of all named inventors. The EU includes current member countries. The activity index consists of the ratio of the countries’/economies’ share of the indicated technology to the countries’/economies’ share of the total grants. A ratio of greater than 1.00 signifies more active patenting in the selected technology; a ratio of less than 1.00 signifies less active patenting.

SOURCE: The Patent Board^™ special tabulations (2011) of the Proprietary Patent database. See appendix tables 6-57–6-75.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014