UK lagging in AI patent filing race
23 Oct 2024
The UK ranks eighth in a global list of nations filing AI patents and lags behind leading competitors, despite an overall rise in patent applications of nearly 2000% over the last decade.
The details are contained in a report by patent experts Source Advisors , whose data shows the UK was responsible for just 1.39% of global AI patents – 34 times lower than world leader China yet close to Germany’s 1.63% and nearly double France’s filings.
Worldwide, it says, nearly 200,000 new patents were filed in 2023, with expectations this level will grow to more than 0.3 million in 2026.
Report authors called on the UK to develop a clear intellectual property strategy to support growth in the sector. Their study analysed the volume of innovative output from the UK compared to other countries and regions’ AI patents.
The data highlights the specific areas of AI innovation in which the UK can claim a global specialism in, with the lead area being securing communication with filings driven by NChain. Image analysis and enhancement are also key areas for the UK, driven by filings by Sony Interactive Entertainment and Imagination technologies.
Source Advisors MD Luke Hamm commented: “Headline-grabbing commitment to economic growth now must take shape in actual policy. There are choices to be made on what we want to be famous for and how the legal, and regulatory framework complements this as well as how fiscal incentives will drive greater levels of investment.”
Data collection for the report was conducted on 21 June 2024 for patents filed from 1 January 2010 onwards. It analyses filings that are either granted and active or currently patent pending, therefore excluding any expired or lapsed patents or patent applications
Akshay Thaman, IP consultant and policy lead for Source Advisors, remarked the data showed that the UK sat at the lower end of the top 10 for patents filed in the AI industry and demonstrated the need for the incoming government to position the UK to compete on the world stage.
“Funding routes such as the R&D tax relief regime, grant funding and private investment are all crucial to driving growth. However, we ask the incoming government to carefully consider the importance of intellectual property awareness, protection and commercialisation as a key lever to driving growth.
“Other comparative nations are clearly ahead of the UK in doing this. Perhaps it’s time for the UK to have its own intellectual property strategy,” stated Thaman.
Pic: Ivan Samkov
