Abstract
This paper presents the analysis on the global patent strategy of Japanese companies before and during the Science and Technology Basic Plan Periodcomparing with the patent strategy of US companies. We mainly used the patent application data of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the registered patent data of the Japan Patent Office and the US Patent Office. Our analysis has found that Japanese companies increased their number of patent applications in the world and in the United States but that they decreased their share in the world, Japan, US, Germany, UK and France. The analysis has also found that the structure of receiving patent application in the world changed dramatically due to the increased share of countries other than Japan, US, Germany, UK and France and that Japanese companies' patent application pattern did not follow this change. Unlike Japanese companies, the analysis has found that US companies followed this structural change and increased its share in the five developed countries and in the other countries as well. US companies applied for the same patent in many countries and increased their world share drastically in the 1990s.
