Countries with the most inventive activity

Patent documents published worldwide last year (i.e. all those with a publication year of 2005 appearing in Derwent World Patents Index® up to and including update 200579) when analyzed for priority applications by country (treating the original country of application as the priority) illustrate the predominance of Japan. The priority country is usually where the inventor is based, and we can see that for patents published in 2005 Japanese inventors filed more than twice as many as their US counterparts.
Priority Country vs Number of patents applied for:Japan 300,623, US 149,936, Germany 47,651,
China 40,821, South Korea 32,521, Russia 17,384, France 11,394, UK 10,378, Taiwan 4,973, Italy 3,724

Technology areas with the most number of patent applications
Digital Computers 16.87%, Telephone and Data Transmission Systems 6.73%
Computer Peripherals 6.22%, Semiconductor Fabrication 6.18%
Electro(in)organic and Semiconductor Materials 6.07%,
Broadcasting, Radio & Line Transmission Systems 5.88%
Audio/Visual Recording and Systems 5.40%
Automotive Electronics 4.21%
Scientific Instrumentation 4.16%
Memories, Films, Hybrid Circuits, LCDs 3.82%

(source: http://scientific.thomson.com/news/newsletter/2006-01/8304698/#6)

VC investment in India 2005

Private equity and venture capital firms invested about $1.5 billion in 125 Indian companies during 2005, slightly down on the year before, according to an AltAssets report that referenced Venture Intelligence India, as its source. The 2005 Indian VC activity represented a slight decrease from 2004 when 129 companies raised $1.6 billion. A total of 63 out of the 125 companies closed rounds of over $10 million, the report said.
(EE Times 17/2/2006)