This paper provides new information, not available from other sources, on the characteristics ofthe innovation process in Europe, and on the economic use and value of European patents. Ourdata are drawn from a survey (PatVal-EU, or PatVal for short) of 9,017 patents granted by theEuropean Patent...

Based on a survey of the inventors of 9,017 European patented inventions, this paper provides new information about the characteristics of European inventors, the sources of their knowledge, the importance of formal and informal collaborations, the motivations to invent, and the actual use and...