Final report on Key Enabling Technologies - European Commission ...

A more detailed analysis presented in Figure 10, comparing separately the top ten EPO/PCT patents ranking for
R&D organisations and compagnies based on the number of patents they filled in Europe between 2000 and 2007,
demonstrably indicates that whilst Europe has considerable leadership in the R&D domain, it has more difficulties to
transform this knowledge in marketable products to sustain and / or build top ten ranking companies in each KET sector.
Figure 11: Global patent and manufacturing shares:
the case of Li-ion battery
Figure 10: Global top 10 patent ranking in KETs
This disconnect between the production of knowledge and the "use" of knowledge in manufacturing activities and
marketable products was confirmed through analysis of a number of case studies undertaken for the HLG. Such
patent share and manufacturing activities data are shown in Figures 11 and 12 for the case of the Li-ion battery cells
and Bioethanol production.
o European internal market with world market leaders as KETs users
With its half billion citizens and consumers, the internal market is undoubtedly one of Europe's major strength. The
free circulation of goods and services provides significant market opportunities for KET producers and KET users
with a geographical proximity in many application areas (health, energy, construction, space, etc.).
One of the assets of European KETs developers is their close proximity to major KETs users, i.e. world leading industries
in several KETs application sectors (automotive, aeronautics, health, and energy) relying, for the most part, on strong
technological and manufacturing competences in large and small companies, and in production and competence
networks along established and highly diverse new value chains. Europe also offers important clusters and networks,
which bring together resources and expertise and promote the cooperation between businesses, public authorities
and the academic sector, which makes the European production fabric more resilient to global competition. Europe also
represents the largest integrated market in the world, both rich and receptive to innovative products. It must build its
innovation models on these strengths.
22
Figure 12: Global patent and manufacturing shares:
the case of bioethanol