The IPMI successfully published the paper Multi-cross-industry innovation patents in the USA - A combination of PATSTAT and Orbis search in the Journal World Patent Information.

Knowledge and technologies from different fields will undoubtedly be combined in order to develop the products of the future. Remarkable examples thereof can already be found in the fields of interconnected „smart“ products and natural care products. Few companies have access to the entire range of available knowledge; most are required to obtain this knowledge from other companies or research institutes. One way to acquire the requisite knowledge is through co-operation. When at least three companies from different industries are cooperating for this purpose, we speak of multi-cross-industry innovation. This kind of innovation is reflected in many cases of patenting. For a deeper understanding, we identify multi-cross-industry innovation patents in the leading market of the USA, using a combined search on PATSTAT and Orbis in the period from 1980 to 2015. We apply a time series analysis, an applicant analysis, a priority country analysis, an analysis of co-operation structure, and an analysis of the application domains to the data. Our results show an increase in the occurrence of multi-cross-industry innovation patents. The major players involved in this are Japanese companies, which apply for nearly 90% of all multi-cross-industry innovation patents. Multi-cross-industry innovation covers a broad range of application domains, from electronics to material sciences.

Mahnken, T.A. and Moehrle, M.G. (2018) Multi-cross-industry innovation patents in the USA - A combination of PATSTAT and Orbis search. World Patent Information, 55, 52–60. doi: 10.1016/j.wpi.2018.10.003.