Communists used to have better results on innovation than the capitalists after the Revolution of 1989. The number of patents granted in Romania in 2014 is even lower than in 1920, a KyesFin study reveals.
“Paradoxically, communists seem to know better to handle innovation, which is essential for business (…) It’s interesting that, although we have the impression of living in an innovation and research age, we are far more behind the comrades during Ceausescu’s time,” the study reads.
In the last 25 years during communism (1965-1989) 94,481 patent requests have been filed at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM) and 59,443 patents have been granted. During the past 25 years after the Revolution, the number of requests dropped to 39,558, while OSIM granted only 26,425 invention patents.
The survey warns that Romania has even less patents in 2014 than in 1920, which is quite alarming.
“The situation is worse on innovation than 95 years ago. More than that, OSIM statistics show that the assailed communists knew to exploit better Romanians’ brains for business purposes than the capitalists did in the past 25 years,” KyesFin show.
After the Revolution, along with the free market, Romanians innovated lesser and lesser, the traditional research being replaced by the technology and brand imports from the West.
If in 1990, 3,081 requests for invention patents were registered and 1,428 were approved, a decade later, their number was down by one third, and in 2014 there were only 1,000 requests and less than 300 patents actually granted.
According to the study’s experts, one of the causes is the migration of the creative activity outside Romania.
In 2014, out of the total of 2,981 patents to apply in Romania, 2,661 have been registered in EU, and only 320 in Romania at OSIM. The same situation prevails in the trademarks’ case. In 2014, only 10,763 were registered at OSIM.
And this happened despite the higher registration fees within EU, which start form EUR 900, compared to EUR 200 at OSIM. However, a trademark registered in EU is offering protection not only in Romania but also in all UE member states.
The survey argues that a solution to boost the national patents’ production could be the development and support of the research institutes, private laboratories, universities and didactic resorts which don’t have competitive equipment and funds that should endorse the creative effort.