Trends of Patent and Utility Model Activities in Asia and Africa : A Comparison of Regional Innovation, FDI and Economic Activity

The 21st century has been characterised by the knowledge economy in which contemporary wealth creation emanates from information, knowledge and intangible assets (intellectual property (IP)). This article undertakes comparative analyses of trends in innovation activity in five newly industrialising countries (NICs) in Asia (China, India, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia) and 32 member countries of the Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) and the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI). The article also explores relationships amongst patenting, investments in research and development (R&D), foreign direct investments (FDI) and other economic activities in the two regions. Such exploration is necessary to help policy makers, practitioners and scholars consider the relative levels of local innovation and the contribution of IP to economic activity in the two regions. The article uses patent and utility model applications for both residents and non-residents obtained from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) online databases and economic performance indicators such as real gross domestic product GDP), net FDI flows, population, manufacturing value added and R&D expenditure data obtained from the World Bank