inventionINDEX
Global R&D Benchmarking, Tax Incentives & Innovation Metrics.
Elastic Innovation Metrics
Developed by Swanson Reed, inventionINDEX is an elastic innovation metric designed to track, analyze, and highlight patent activity and its relationship to GDP overtime. inventionINDEX includes a traffic light warning system intended to detect patent production deficiency before it becomes irreversibly structural.
The Early Warning System
The index uses a comparative trend analysis known as the “Traffic Light System” to detect patent production deficiency before it becomes structural.
| Signal | Status | Benchmarking Criteria | Strategic Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy Output | Score of ‘C’ Grade or better for at least one month in a 13-month period. | Maintain: Current R&D incentives are performing adequately. | |
| Deficiency Warning | Score of less than ‘C’ Grade for a 13 consecutive month period. | Monitor: Governments should prepare intervention strategies. Alert phase lasts approx. 24 months. | |
| Structural Stagnation | Score of less than ‘C’ Grade for a 60 consecutive month (5-year) period. | Intervene: Immediate execution of Patent Grant Subsidy Programs required within 90 days. |
📊 Benchmarking
Compare your region’s patent production metrics against its own 20-year pre-COVID history and benchmark against competing states.
💰 Tax Incentives
Analyze how specific R&D tax credits correlate with patent output efficiency using our historical data models.
📉 Trend Analysis
Move beyond simple patent counts. Analyze the elasticity of innovation spending versus actual economic output.
What are Patent Grants?
In a September 2025 report from Swanson Reed’s Patent Grants Thinktank, the authors propose reforming the U.S. patent system—citing examination backlogs, low-quality grants, and litigation by Non-Practicing Entities that raise costs and hinder innovation. They recommend a Collaborative Examination Pathway (CEP), an optional, front-loaded USPTO track that fosters early applicant–examiner collaboration using AI tools and a secure digital platform to improve patent quality, shorten pendency, and bolster legal certainty. The report also calls for a federal grant of up to $50,000 per international patent family to help small businesses cover patenting costs, and suggests using Swanson Reed’s inventionINDEX—which links patent output with GDP growth—as a simple metric to gauge innovation and measure program outcomes. Learn more