A Changing Climate: Statistical Evidence of the Intellectual Property Landscape of Clean Energy Technologies

The intellectual property (IP) system plays an important role in the development and diffusion of technologies by determining the institutional context in which transactions occur. This article reviews the recent EPO report ‘Patents and Clean Energy Technologies: Bridging the Gap between Evidence and Policy’ and offers further insights into the interplay between patents, innovation in climate change mitigating technologies and access to technology. Empirical evidence and analysis of patent trends forms the basis for understanding the spectrum of policy choices available to combat climate change. In an effort to bridge the gap between policy and evidence, the EPO report provides ample statistical analysis of existing patenting trends, fleshes out the current patent landscape and assesses licensing trends in emerging technologies relating to climate change. This review evaluates these statistical insights and discusses the implications for both the developed and developing world. It aims to deepen understanding of how intellectual property influences the development of markets for green technologies.