Percentage of patent families that also include one class related to ICT, 1978-2018

Notes

3-year moving average of % of patent families in different fields that also include an ICT co-class. Only “claimed priorities” (i.e. patent family size > 1) included. Patent extractions from the EPO World Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT) by OECD/ENV and IEA/EDC (2019).This figure exploits the fact that patent applications often cite multiple classes. The vertical axis measures the percentage of patent families which include both the fields in question, as well as at least one class related to information and communication technologies.