The number of freelance inventors in Bavaria is falling continuously – although a comparatively large number of patents come from the Free State. This is the result of a study by the Institute of German Economy for the IENA inventors’ fair, which starts this Thursday in Nuremberg. Accordingly, for years there have been fewer and fewer so-called garage tinkerers who independently work on new devices, technologies or applications. In 2010, they accounted for almost eleven percent of all patent applications filed in Germany. In 2018 – the last year with reliable data – it was 6.5 percent. Of these, most of them came from Bavaria (24.4 percent). But measured in terms of all patent applications, the Free State, together with Baden-Württemberg, brings up the rear in the country table. Just five percent of the inventions made in Bavaria were most recently the work of independent inventors.
The authors of the study consider the Bavarian economic structure to be one of the reasons. Many industrial companies are based here, which often employ their own research departments and are therefore less dependent on independent inventors. Many technologies have also reached a level of complexity that makes it difficult to “achieve the necessary degree of novelty” on your own. Especially in the areas of electrical engineering and pharmaceuticals, it can be observed that innovations are increasingly being produced by teams of inventors.
Free inventors lead a “wallflower existence”
However, the authors cite a lack of political support as the main cause. In the past few years, the public sector has withdrawn more and more from supporting free inventors, the study says: These have “meanwhile been living a wallflower when it comes to promoting innovation”. They were often left to their own devices when it came to questions about financing, law and the market, which is why many inventions did not “see the light of day”. Should that change, the state would have to expand its funding again.
For inventors, but also for investors, the IENA in Nuremberg is an important industry get-together. It took place for the first time in 1948. According to the organizers, the retractable dog leash, the armbands and the folding bicycle have celebrated their premiere there since then. Due to the corona, the fair is a bit smaller this time: around 400 inventions from different areas of life will be presented by Sunday. At the same time, the creative fair “Hack & Make” takes place on the weekend, with the focus on analog and digital do-it-yourself projects – as well as the Nuremberg Innovation Congress on Friday and Saturday, which deals with questions of innovation management for inventors and companies.