In the past decade, substantial methodological progress has been made in the field of patent statistics. This progress can be mainly attributed to the extensive research activity conducted in universities and international research organizations. The outcome of this innovative research activity has resulted in the development of new tools that vastly improve data retrieval, data segmentation and data analysis capabilities. These provide a better understanding of the characteristics of inventive activity.
The main goal of this study is to provide decision makers with an in-depth picture on the scope and characteristics of Israeli inventive activity during the last two decades and to examine Israel's position in the inventive arena in relation to OECD countries. In addition to the quantitative description and analysis of Israel inventive activity through the "Distinct inventions" index developed in the previous study, the present research focuses on the analysis of quality indices, aimed at providing an evaluation of the economic and technological value of patents from an international comparative perspective.
