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Unveiling the geography of historical patents in the United States from 1836 to 1975

Petralia, Sergio ; Balland, Pierre Alexandre LU and Rigby, David L. (2016) In Scientific Data 3.
Abstract

It is clear that technology is a key driver of economic growth. Much less clear is where new technologies are produced and how the geography of U.S. invention has changed over the last two hundred years. Patent data report the geography, history, and technological characteristics of invention. However, those data have only recently become available in digital form and at the present time there exists no comprehensive dataset on the geography of knowledge production in the United States prior to 1975. The database presented in this paper unveils the geography of historical patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 1836 to 1975. This historical dataset, HistPat, is constructed using digitalized records... (More)

It is clear that technology is a key driver of economic growth. Much less clear is where new technologies are produced and how the geography of U.S. invention has changed over the last two hundred years. Patent data report the geography, history, and technological characteristics of invention. However, those data have only recently become available in digital form and at the present time there exists no comprehensive dataset on the geography of knowledge production in the United States prior to 1975. The database presented in this paper unveils the geography of historical patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 1836 to 1975. This historical dataset, HistPat, is constructed using digitalized records of original patent documents that are publicly available. We describe a methodological procedure that allows recovery of geographical information on patents from the digital records. HistPat can be used in different disciplines ranging from geography, economics, history, network science, and science and technology studies. Additionally, it is easily merged with post-1975 USPTO digital patent data to extend it until today.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Data
volume
3
article number
160074
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:27576103
  • wos:000390230400005
  • scopus:84984941788
ISSN
2052-4463
DOI
10.1038/sdata.2016.74
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e85c2ab2-8368-4b58-9222-ac03556834f3
date added to LUP
2016-12-01 09:04:03
date last changed
2024-03-22 12:42:09
@article{e85c2ab2-8368-4b58-9222-ac03556834f3,
  abstract     = {{<p>It is clear that technology is a key driver of economic growth. Much less clear is where new technologies are produced and how the geography of U.S. invention has changed over the last two hundred years. Patent data report the geography, history, and technological characteristics of invention. However, those data have only recently become available in digital form and at the present time there exists no comprehensive dataset on the geography of knowledge production in the United States prior to 1975. The database presented in this paper unveils the geography of historical patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 1836 to 1975. This historical dataset, HistPat, is constructed using digitalized records of original patent documents that are publicly available. We describe a methodological procedure that allows recovery of geographical information on patents from the digital records. HistPat can be used in different disciplines ranging from geography, economics, history, network science, and science and technology studies. Additionally, it is easily merged with post-1975 USPTO digital patent data to extend it until today.</p>}},
  author       = {{Petralia, Sergio and Balland, Pierre Alexandre and Rigby, David L.}},
  issn         = {{2052-4463}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Data}},
  title        = {{Unveiling the geography of historical patents in the United States from 1836 to 1975}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.74}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/sdata.2016.74}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}