Patents as proxy for measuring innovations: A case of changing patent filing behavior in Indian public funded research organizations

The process of innovation is crucial and essential part of economic growth. Public funded research organizations (PFROs) are believed to be an integral part of National Innovation Systems (NIS) and therefore form an important part of research focused on developing and enhancing national innovation capacities. PFROs have witnessed substantial changes in terms of increased patent filing over the years. Patenting rates and patent propensity have long been used as a well-grounded proxy for measuring technological innovations in the literature. Variant patent filing motives of researchers may reflect a fundamental weakness in use of patents for measuring innovations. Transition economies like India, with characteristics which may differ from those of heavily studied advanced western economies, are the focus of this study. Data were collected from 43 PFROs in India during the period 2005–2010. This study examined the patent filing behavior in PFROs by analyzing various motives that drive the patent filing of its researchers. Negative Binomial Regression Models were constructed to explain whether these patent filing motives impact patent portfolios in PFROs. We observed that only few of them strengthen the patent portfolios. The results connote the significance of taking granted patents, rather than filed patents, as a proxy for measure innovations in PFROs. Based on our results we also derive some policy and decision-making implications for public research particularly in the context of transition economies.