Inventive activity in Essex: a regional patent data analysis

This study aims to assess the inventive activity in the county of Essex on the basis of patent data. The analysis performed here complements the Essex Patent Map (http://www.essexpatentmap.com) and is divided into six parts: firstly, the chronological evolution of patent applications filed by Essex applicants between 2000 and 2013 is presented. Secondly, the major patenting authorities where the priority patent filings of Essex applicants reside are outlined. Thereafter, the regional distribution of Essex applicants and the technical fields (IPC classes) of their patent applications are examined. We identify the top 20 applicants from Essex on the basis of the number of patent applications during the period under consideration. The quality of individual patents is evaluated on the basis of forward patent citations. The report concludes with an overview of selected, significant inventions from Essex.

The study finds that overall patenting activity in Essex decreased during the period under consideration. Patent applications from Essex applicants increased substantially between 2001 and 2004, peaking in 2005 and significantly decreasing again between 2006 and 2013. Most patents originating in Essex are filed with the UK Intellectual Property Office, followed by the US Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office. The analysis of the regional distribution of Essex patent applications concludes that Chelmsford, Harlow and Basildon exhibit the highest levels of patenting activity. Harlow is the city with the highest patent density (number of patents relative to population size). The technical fields with the highest share of patent applications from Essex are medical or veterinary science, organic chemistry, electric communication techniques, basic electric elements and measuring and testing. The top 5 applicants from Essex are Ian James Forster (most of his patents were filed through Avery Dennison Corporation, but for a substantial number of them he is the sole applicant), e2v, Selex, Thomas Tso Hei Ma and Proto Magic Innovations. Dennison Avery Corporation, Ian James Forster, Radiant Networks, Aventis Pharma and GlaxoSmithKline hold the highest share of significant inventions from Essex.