Foreign ownership of domestic inventions — Patent applications by country

Cross-border ownership of patents reflects international flows of knowledge from the inventor country to the applicant countries and international flows of funds for research (multinational companies).

Countries reporting
10
Highest
3 Patents
Spain
Lowest
0 Patents
Russia
Median
0 Patents
Years covered
46
1978–2023
Data points
4,738

What the numbers show

Foreign ownership of domestic inventions — Patent applications is currently reported for 10 countries. The highest value is 3 Patents in Spain; the lowest is 0 Patents in Russia.

The median across all reporting countries is 0 Patents, and the mean is 0.6 Patents.

Foreign ownership of domestic inventions — Patent applications: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Spain 3 Patents 2023 up 200.0% volatile
1 OECD 3 Patents 2023 up 200.0% volatile
3 United Arab Emirates 0 Patents 2023 volatile
3 Australia 0 Patents 2023 volatile
3 Canada 0 Patents 2023 volatile
3 Germany 0 Patents 2023 volatile
3 France 0 Patents 2023 volatile
3 Iran 0 Patents 2023 volatile
3 Malta 0 Patents 2023 volatile
3 Russia 0 Patents 2023 volatile

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

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Foreign ownership of domestic inventions — Patent applications by country. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 27 August 2026, from https://science-tech.statizoid.com/stat/foreign-ownership-of-domestic-inventions-patent-applications/

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About this data

Indicator
Foreign ownership of domestic inventions — Patent applications
Unit
Patents
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
103 places, 4,738 data points, 1978–2023
Last refreshed

Cross-border ownership of patents reflects international flows of knowledge from the inventor country to the applicant countries and international flows of funds for research (multinational companies).