Notes on the use of trademark registrations as an innovation metric for the creative and cultural industries: an analysis based on USPTO data

Abstract

The creative and cultural industries have been gaining importance in the generation and diffusion of value in economies over the last decades. However, there is still a gap regarding the definition of variables that could be used as production and innovation indicators for this sector. As such, we propose the use of trademark registers as indicators of the production and introduction of new goods and services in segments related to this sector. First, we provide a descriptive analysis of United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) trademark registration data throughout the twentieth century. This analysis allows us to see that the trademarks registered in segments aligned with the creative and cultural industries have shown strong expansion, especially since the 1980s, which can be related to the technological and economic changes observed in the global market in this period. This movement is observable especially among the most technology-intensive segments, such as the production of software, digital games and music. Second, we analyse the factors associated with trademark registration in the period covered using ordinary least square estimates. The main results show that patent registration and revenue (a proxy for size) are strongly associated with trademark registration for companies in the creative economy. On the other hand, location in a developed country is not a determinant of the registration of trademarks in the sector, in contrast to the results obtained for the whole set of firms. In the case of low-tech firms in the creative economy, only revenue explains the registration of trademarks.