Patent enforcement across 51 countries – Patent enforcement index 1998–2017

Indices are central for comparing the strength of patent systems across countries in international business research, intellectual property management and policymaking. However, existing approaches rely on book laws while most variance across countries emerges from enforcement. We address this weakness and present the Patent Enforcement Index which tracks differences in patent enforcement for 51 countries between 1998 and 2017. We utilize novel firm-level enforcement data and extend the conceptual framework of the patent systems strength index provided by Papageorgiadis et al. (2014). The new index reveals previously uncaptured volatility in patent enforcement and can be decomposed into three topical sub-indices.