Germany's homegrown inventors are gradually becoming extinct.
In the Federal Republic, it's well-known that it's a land of creators and inventors. This remains true, but nowadays, innovations are more likely to come from corporate boardrooms than basements and garages. Private inventions are struggling to keep up with the times.
The role of independent inventors in the innovation hub of Germany is lacking more and more. Although the total number of patents applied hasn't changed much, the percentage of those filed by individual inventors has significantly dropped.
Back in 1994, one in five patents (23%) were filed by private individuals. But as of 2020, that number plummeted to just 7%. These figures were gathered by the Institute of the German Economy (IW) and featured in "Spiegel" magazine. "The decline is drastic," states patent expert Oliver Koppel from the IW.
There are various reasons for this shift: Innovation is now primarily a domain of corporations. Smaller inventors are struggling to keep up with the well-equipped research departments of giant corporations. Several technologies have become so intricate that only larger entities have the means to tackle them. Additionally, the German government has abandoned financial support for independent inventors about a decade ago. For instance, it ended the funding for 'inventors' clubs' modeled after the Japanese version.
Education seems to be another contributing factor. The number of people with mathematical and scientific understanding is declining faster than ever, resulting in a shrinking pool of potential inventors. Furthermore, the German machine building industry, a stalwart of the nation's economy, is in a patent crisis.
However, there are some positive signs in terms of gender representation among inventors: in 2020, 8.8% of all patents filed freely were registered by female applicants. In 1994, that number was only 4.7% as per the IW.
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The German Patent and Trademark Office has witnessed a significant decrease in the number of patents filed by individual inventors, with only 7% of patents being filed by private individuals in 2020, compared to 23% in 1994. This drop is partly due to the fact that innovations are now predominantly driven by large corporations, who have the resources to tackle complex technologies and handle well-equipped research departments.
