8.3 Global Distribution of Carbon Capture Technology,
Including Japan, China, and South Korea
We identified the spatial distribution of patents across countries in terms of assignee
code and try to highlight relative development trends among high-tech countries
using assignee code data. Every patentee in the Derwent Innovations Index has one
assignee code. An assignee code usually contains many patentee names. Patentee
names contained in one assignee code are always related in some way, such as by
belonging to the same company, having combined through company merger and
restructuring, or as multiple spellings of a single company name.
8.3.1 Spatial Distribution of Carbon Capture Technology
We extracted assignee code data from the carbon capture patent database. We focus
on the top 50 assignee codes from a total of 4613 codes (Table 8.4). The top
50 assignee codes together own 4232 patent files, accounting for 42.97% of the
9847 patents filed. The top 50 assignees include most influential companies, institutes, and universities working on carbon capture technology globally. As six
assignee codes tied in 50th place, there are 55 assignee codes in the top 50.
Figure 8.5 shows that the top 50 assignee codes and 4232 patents are concentrated
in eight countries—Japan, the United States, France, China, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, in descending order. East Asia, the
European Union, and North America have the most patents globally, which is related
to economic vitality in these areas. China is the only developing country whose
Technology life cycle / Time
CumulaƟve patent count
9847
1976
Turning period of emerging
stage to growth stage
Growth stage
Emerging stage
1985
1995
2005
2015
Fig. 8.4 Life cycle of carbon capture technology by cumulative patent count. Source: Derwent
Innovations Index Database (2016)
162
H. Liu et al.
Including Japan, China, and South Korea
We identified the spatial distribution of patents across countries in terms of assignee
code and try to highlight relative development trends among high-tech countries
using assignee code data. Every patentee in the Derwent Innovations Index has one
assignee code. An assignee code usually contains many patentee names. Patentee
names contained in one assignee code are always related in some way, such as by
belonging to the same company, having combined through company merger and
restructuring, or as multiple spellings of a single company name.
8.3.1 Spatial Distribution of Carbon Capture Technology
We extracted assignee code data from the carbon capture patent database. We focus
on the top 50 assignee codes from a total of 4613 codes (Table 8.4). The top
50 assignee codes together own 4232 patent files, accounting for 42.97% of the
9847 patents filed. The top 50 assignees include most influential companies, institutes, and universities working on carbon capture technology globally. As six
assignee codes tied in 50th place, there are 55 assignee codes in the top 50.
Figure 8.5 shows that the top 50 assignee codes and 4232 patents are concentrated
in eight countries—Japan, the United States, France, China, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, in descending order. East Asia, the
European Union, and North America have the most patents globally, which is related
to economic vitality in these areas. China is the only developing country whose
Technology life cycle / Time
CumulaƟve patent count
9847
1976
Turning period of emerging
stage to growth stage
Growth stage
Emerging stage
1985
1995
2005
2015
Fig. 8.4 Life cycle of carbon capture technology by cumulative patent count. Source: Derwent
Innovations Index Database (2016)
162
H. Liu et al.