Conclusion
Given the challenges presented by COVID-19, understanding the context in terms of past innovation offers invaluable insights that can be used to aid in the mitigation of the health impact caused by the current pandemic. This report showcases the areas of strength of Canadian institutions in pandemic mitigation technologies by using a patent search strategy developed in consultation with the National Research Council of Canada. Using this patent search strategy, 11,057 patented inventions were identified globally between 1999 and 2018, of which 8,452 were patented inventions by the institutions. In total, 178, or approximately 2.1% of these 8,452 patented inventions were assigned to Canadian institutions; and relative to international institutions, Canadian institutions ranked eighth in terms of patent activity in this field.
Globally, patented inventions for pandemic mitigation technologies grew, on average, by 17% annually. Unsurprisingly, American and Chinese institutions held the largest patent portfolios in this field and together accounted for more than 50% of the total patented inventions in this analysis. Chinese institutions have made notable headway over the past decade, and in 2018 alone they patented more than twice as many inventions than American institutions, who hold the largest portfolio in this field. It was encouraging to see that the growth experienced by Canadian institutions was almost on par with institutions from leading economies like Germany and Japan between 2009 and 2018.
Over half of the patented inventions in this dataset are related to Therapeutics and Vaccine Development, followed by Rapid Detection and Diagnosis, and Digital Health. The proportion of patented inventions by Canadian institutions in Therapeutics and Vaccine Development inventions is 72%, demonstrating that Canadian institutions have a relative strength in this area when compared to all institutions worldwide. Overall, Canadian institutions were found to have a high relative specialization for pandemic mitigation technologies and their specialization has improved for certain sub-categories of the Therapeutics and Vaccine Development research area over the past decade.
Within Canada, regional clusters of institutions actively patenting were identified for pandemic mitigation related technologies. These hubs take advantage of the emerging talent available and act as catalysts for innovation. The largest clusters in Canada are present in the cities and surrounding areas of Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Manitoba, although not a leader in terms of the volume of patented inventions, is seen to have a number of collaborative patents involving domestic and international players originating from the academic sector.
The patent landscape maps presented in this report visually present the key technology areas in which both international and Canadian institutions are actively patenting. The Canadian patent landscape map is particularly effective in observing Canada's strength in the Therapeutics and Vaccine Development research area, as its coverage captures almost two-thirds of the map. Such insights may allow policymakers to define a policy framework which leverages this relative strength thereby improving Canada's response in the face of the current pandemic. Furthermore, the Canada innovation ecosystem can benefit from the insights generated from this report by establishing a baseline for innovation in this area and identifying where Canada's strengths lie.