Patent activity in Czechia: a weak point in innovation performance

The analysis "Patent activity in Czechia and its development since 2000," published in the latest issue of Ergo magazine, shows long-term structural deficiencies in the transfer of research results into practice. Compared to advanced European countries, Czech public research organizations and the business sector lag behind in the number of patent applications and in the share of applications filed with foreign patent offices.
Patent activity is one of the important indicators of the economy's ability to capitalize on knowledge generated in research and development. Although European universities and public research organizations have been strengthening their patent activity in recent years, Czech institutions have only followed this trend to a limited extent. Public universities in Czechia report
a lower share of patent applications filed with international patent offices than their Austrian counterparts, both in absolute terms and in terms of research capacity. This indicates a weaker focus on international protection of results and limited cooperation with the industrial sector.

An even more significant problem is evident in the business sector. Czech companies have long lagged behind in the number of patent applications filed with both domestic and foreign patent offices, with the majority of foreign applications coming from a relatively narrow group of companies, often under foreign control. The low level of patent activity among domestic companies thus limits the Czech economy's ability to generate and protect its own technological solutions with higher added value.

The analysis also shows that without more profound changes in the research and development management system; this situation will not improve significantly. It is essential to consistently implement the recommendations of the European Commission's PSF panel in the area of knowledge transfer and exploitation and to adjust the methodology for evaluating research organizations so that it systematically takes into account the performance of scientific teams across sectors and their ability to transfer results into the application sphere. Without these steps, the low valuation of knowledge will remain one of the main obstacles to the Czech Republic's ambition to become one of Europe's most innovative countries by 2040.

Number of patent applications from Czech Public Universities (Data source: PATSTAT autumn edition 2024)