The Contribution of Austrian Inventions to the Development of Key Technologies. Results Based on a New Patent Scoreboard

The analysis of the significance of patent applications in six technology fields defined by the European Commission as key technologies, as well as biotechnology shows that Austrian inventors consistently contribute patents with a high significance for the respective technology field, and the significance of inventions with Austrian participation has increased strongly in each technology field over the past ten years. This is particularly true in the fields of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing technology, as well as to a lesser extent photonics. In biotechnology, too, inventions with Austrian participation gained considerably in importance. Over the past 20 years, Austria has developed into an important player in these fields in Europe and worldwide. However, groundbreaking paradigm-forming inventions ("super patents") do not originate in Austria. Such "super-patents" usually underlie new branches of industry and achieve the highest economic returns.