In 2016, the number of patents filed in the United States was three times higher than those registered in 1995. Which is to say, that’s good news for Americans.
However, the number of new patents (mechanical devices, composite material, new drugs, etc.), in the same period of time the figure from India was 7 times higher. And the figure for China was 72 times higher .
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For decades, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has been the world’s most important agency dedicated to the protection of innovation, but this could change in a few years, as predicted by Mauro F. Guillén in his book 2030: Traveling towards the end of the world as we know it :
The clash also takes place between companies. Those that come from emerging markets are getting bigger every day, while those in Europe and the United States are reducing in size, with some notable exceptions, such as technological ones. But even within the tech sector, Chinese and Indian companies are growing, not only because of the size of the population they serve, but also because more people are online using their digital services.
Because in China and India there are already more broadband users, social networks and payments through mobile phones than in the United States. And this gap is not going to stop growing .
Alibaba is a bigger company than Amazon, Didi just took over Uber’s operations in China, and India boasts more IT technicians and engineers than the United States.
The world is changing faster and faster. The middle class has stagnated, and is even shrinking, in Europe and the United States, but is growing wildly in China and India. Within a decade, the differences will begin to be abysmal . We will have to start learning languages, or even move to another country.