The Swedish Patent Database, 1746-1975
The purpose of this research project is to build a fully searchable, publicly accessible database for all Swedish patents covering the period 1746-1974 (ca. 400,000 patents). No such database exists today, but each patent is searchable on the Swedish Patent Office s (PRV) webpage. The establishment of this database builds on on-going work to create such a database for 1746-1930, and would provide a unique platform for research on technical change during the industrialization of Sweden. Project members have previously developed a database for all Swedish patents, 1746-1914 which paves the way for the construction of a database covering the entire dataset. This database structure has been developed in cooperation with leading international researchers and partly modeled upon the database designed by researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Spanish Patent Office. It is possible to couple the data in the database to other national and international databases. The database will be publicly available and searchable on the webpages of PRV and Uppsala Center for Business History (UCBH).
Final report
The infrastructure developed has been named “Swedish Historical patents”. Its purpose is to provide a publicly available search engine that can be used by researchers and the public to obtain basic information on all granted Swedish patents between 1930 and 1845.
The patent information has mainly been retrieved from the archives of the Swedish Patent Office (PRV) where it has been collected in handwritten ledgers. The patent information before 1885 is collected from the National Archives, but patent letters and ledgers stored at the National Archives are not contained in the infrastructure. There are two main results emanating from the project: 1) Patent material has been made available through the search engine that the project has developed and published. The infrastructure contains all patent letters granted between 1885 and 1945 and these are downloadable in as pdfs. In total this means that information regarding ca. 120 000 Swedish patents is available through the infrastructure. 2) Existing information on card index record (from ca. 1950) and patent letters stored in the archives of PRV has been digitalized (but is not retrievable from the search engine Swedish Historical Patents).
The insights drawn from the work with the infrastructure have been used in scientific publications and research grant applications. The main results are the following: 1) The Swedish patent law in 1884 was preceded by a public debate. By international comparison it was one of the most modern of its kind which enabled inventors to apply for and being granted patents of high value (Andersson & Tell, 2018; 2019); 2) Towards the end of the 19th century a market for patents emerged in Sweden where patant ownership was transferred. Such transactions were enabled by exchanges that were provided by patent agencies and inventors’ associations (Andersson, 2018; Andersson & Tell, 2018; Andersson & La Mela, 2020); 3) Comparisons with Finland and Spain reveal that networks among Swedish inventors were relatively open and strong at the time of the second industrial revolution (Andersson & La Mela, 2020; Andersson, Galaso & Saiz, 2019); 4) Emigration gave rise to labor saving innovations (Andersson, Karadja & Prawitz, 2022); 5) The rolling out of the main railway line in Sweden gave rise to increased inventive activity along the stretch of the railway (Andersson, Berger & Prawitz, 2023); 6) Patent families is an appropriate method to ascertain the value of historical patents (Andersson, La Mela & Tell, 2023). The work with establishing the infrastructure has emanated in research grant proposals, three that were successful: Infrastructure, institutions and innovation: A micro perspective on the industrialization of Sweden (David Andersson), Jan Wallander och Tom Hedelius stiftelse (2019); Human capital and innovation: The impact of technical education on innovation in Swedish firms and regions, (David Andersson), Lars Erik Lundbergs stiftelse för forskning och utbildning (2019); Nordic Innovation Networks in the long run: Technology transfer and collaboration through the lens of Swedish-Finnish patents, 1860-2016 (Fredrik Tell), Peter Wallenbergs stiftelse (2019).
The inauguration of the search engine caught the national eye with news articles in popular science press in entrepreneurship and history of technology magazines. Both PRV and Uppsala University receive questions on a regular basis from the public and researchers regarding the use, application and future development of the infrastructure to cover more patents. Through the work conducted with building the infrastructure, PRV has also secured that historical patent documents previously only contained in paper form it archives now is stored also digitally. In addition, a similar digitalization project at the Finnish Patent Office (PRH) using the infrastructure as a source of inspiration has been conducted. In this project the infrastructure collaboration with Finnish researchers at Helsinki University and the post-doctoral researcher Matti La Mela has proved very beneficial.
The initial aim of the infrastructure was to build a database covering all Swedish patents for the period 1746-1975. The published search engine however only contains information regarding patents granted between 1830-1945. The reasons for this discrepancy are to be found in the amount of work required to parse the information from the handwritten ledgers into a database. Machine reading of the information turned out not to be possible, and therefore the appetent information had to be registered manually into a designated digital interface. During an intensive period 2019 to 2020, a number of research assistants were employed to conduct this work, but it proved too arduous to complete the entire period. In addition, the leadership team of the infrastructure project was halved into David Andersson and Fredrik Tell as two of the co-applicants in the original proposal could not participate for different reasons.
How to integrate future work with the infrastructure into the operations of both Uppsala University and PRV is currently under review. At the moment the digital material is stored both at Uppsala University and PRV. The search engine Swedish Historical Patents is currently under the auspices of the Department of Business Studies at Uppsala University, but a more permanent solution is desirable. The structural context and conditions are excellent. At Uppsala University, Uppsala Center for Business History is a natural arena for linking this and other similar infrastructures. Since previously, the Swedish Patent Database is accessible through the PRV website (containing information regarding patents from 1975 and onwards). There is however a need for a financial solution to develop and maintain the infrastructure, and make its content further accessible for research and the public. The information contained in the search engine Swedish Historical patents is available publicly.
In the research community the infrastructure has received substantial attention and several collaborations have been initiated and developed during the course of establishing the infrastructure. One collaborative project has been conducted with Professor Jari Eloranta and his research group at University of Helsinki through a research grant received from the Peter Wallenberg Foundation. Dr Matti La Mela also approached the infrastructure management to become associated through a postdoctoral visit at Uppsala University. This visit was funded by the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters and he has been associated with the infrastructure since 2020. The development of the infrastructure has also been conducted with the advise and encouragement from Professor Patricio Saiz and his research group at the Autonomous University of Madrid. This contact resulted in a joint research project with him and Pablo Galaso at Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay (see Andersson, Galaso & Saiz, 2019) and an application to the Spanish Research Council for a visiting post-doc during 2020 (not granted). Saiz is also initiator and coordinator of the international research network Multidisciplinary Research on Intellectual Property Rights, Business and Commerce (IBC, https://www.ibcnetwork.org/) to which the infrastructure project members are associated. During the development of the infrastructure, a more comprehensive international research network on patent history has been established, with designated sessions at major conferences in Economic History (e.g. World Economic History Conference; European Social Science History Conference; European Business History Conference; The Business History Conference). These efforts have also emanated in larger research applications coordinated by Professors Margaret Kyle (Mines ParisTech), Alessandro Nuvolari (St. Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa), Petra Moser (New York University) and Michelangelo Vasta (University of Siena). The main applicant for the infrastructure project Swedish Historical Patents participate as co-applicant in these proposals. On a national level, the work in association with the infrastructure has resulted in an interdisciplinary collaboration regarding funding of a research program on Intellectual Property together with Professors Eva Hemmungs Wirtén (Linköping University) and Frantzeska Papadopoulou (Stockholm University).
The patent information has mainly been retrieved from the archives of the Swedish Patent Office (PRV) where it has been collected in handwritten ledgers. The patent information before 1885 is collected from the National Archives, but patent letters and ledgers stored at the National Archives are not contained in the infrastructure. There are two main results emanating from the project: 1) Patent material has been made available through the search engine that the project has developed and published. The infrastructure contains all patent letters granted between 1885 and 1945 and these are downloadable in as pdfs. In total this means that information regarding ca. 120 000 Swedish patents is available through the infrastructure. 2) Existing information on card index record (from ca. 1950) and patent letters stored in the archives of PRV has been digitalized (but is not retrievable from the search engine Swedish Historical Patents).
The insights drawn from the work with the infrastructure have been used in scientific publications and research grant applications. The main results are the following: 1) The Swedish patent law in 1884 was preceded by a public debate. By international comparison it was one of the most modern of its kind which enabled inventors to apply for and being granted patents of high value (Andersson & Tell, 2018; 2019); 2) Towards the end of the 19th century a market for patents emerged in Sweden where patant ownership was transferred. Such transactions were enabled by exchanges that were provided by patent agencies and inventors’ associations (Andersson, 2018; Andersson & Tell, 2018; Andersson & La Mela, 2020); 3) Comparisons with Finland and Spain reveal that networks among Swedish inventors were relatively open and strong at the time of the second industrial revolution (Andersson & La Mela, 2020; Andersson, Galaso & Saiz, 2019); 4) Emigration gave rise to labor saving innovations (Andersson, Karadja & Prawitz, 2022); 5) The rolling out of the main railway line in Sweden gave rise to increased inventive activity along the stretch of the railway (Andersson, Berger & Prawitz, 2023); 6) Patent families is an appropriate method to ascertain the value of historical patents (Andersson, La Mela & Tell, 2023). The work with establishing the infrastructure has emanated in research grant proposals, three that were successful: Infrastructure, institutions and innovation: A micro perspective on the industrialization of Sweden (David Andersson), Jan Wallander och Tom Hedelius stiftelse (2019); Human capital and innovation: The impact of technical education on innovation in Swedish firms and regions, (David Andersson), Lars Erik Lundbergs stiftelse för forskning och utbildning (2019); Nordic Innovation Networks in the long run: Technology transfer and collaboration through the lens of Swedish-Finnish patents, 1860-2016 (Fredrik Tell), Peter Wallenbergs stiftelse (2019).
The inauguration of the search engine caught the national eye with news articles in popular science press in entrepreneurship and history of technology magazines. Both PRV and Uppsala University receive questions on a regular basis from the public and researchers regarding the use, application and future development of the infrastructure to cover more patents. Through the work conducted with building the infrastructure, PRV has also secured that historical patent documents previously only contained in paper form it archives now is stored also digitally. In addition, a similar digitalization project at the Finnish Patent Office (PRH) using the infrastructure as a source of inspiration has been conducted. In this project the infrastructure collaboration with Finnish researchers at Helsinki University and the post-doctoral researcher Matti La Mela has proved very beneficial.
The initial aim of the infrastructure was to build a database covering all Swedish patents for the period 1746-1975. The published search engine however only contains information regarding patents granted between 1830-1945. The reasons for this discrepancy are to be found in the amount of work required to parse the information from the handwritten ledgers into a database. Machine reading of the information turned out not to be possible, and therefore the appetent information had to be registered manually into a designated digital interface. During an intensive period 2019 to 2020, a number of research assistants were employed to conduct this work, but it proved too arduous to complete the entire period. In addition, the leadership team of the infrastructure project was halved into David Andersson and Fredrik Tell as two of the co-applicants in the original proposal could not participate for different reasons.
How to integrate future work with the infrastructure into the operations of both Uppsala University and PRV is currently under review. At the moment the digital material is stored both at Uppsala University and PRV. The search engine Swedish Historical Patents is currently under the auspices of the Department of Business Studies at Uppsala University, but a more permanent solution is desirable. The structural context and conditions are excellent. At Uppsala University, Uppsala Center for Business History is a natural arena for linking this and other similar infrastructures. Since previously, the Swedish Patent Database is accessible through the PRV website (containing information regarding patents from 1975 and onwards). There is however a need for a financial solution to develop and maintain the infrastructure, and make its content further accessible for research and the public. The information contained in the search engine Swedish Historical patents is available publicly.
In the research community the infrastructure has received substantial attention and several collaborations have been initiated and developed during the course of establishing the infrastructure. One collaborative project has been conducted with Professor Jari Eloranta and his research group at University of Helsinki through a research grant received from the Peter Wallenberg Foundation. Dr Matti La Mela also approached the infrastructure management to become associated through a postdoctoral visit at Uppsala University. This visit was funded by the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters and he has been associated with the infrastructure since 2020. The development of the infrastructure has also been conducted with the advise and encouragement from Professor Patricio Saiz and his research group at the Autonomous University of Madrid. This contact resulted in a joint research project with him and Pablo Galaso at Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay (see Andersson, Galaso & Saiz, 2019) and an application to the Spanish Research Council for a visiting post-doc during 2020 (not granted). Saiz is also initiator and coordinator of the international research network Multidisciplinary Research on Intellectual Property Rights, Business and Commerce (IBC, https://www.ibcnetwork.org/) to which the infrastructure project members are associated. During the development of the infrastructure, a more comprehensive international research network on patent history has been established, with designated sessions at major conferences in Economic History (e.g. World Economic History Conference; European Social Science History Conference; European Business History Conference; The Business History Conference). These efforts have also emanated in larger research applications coordinated by Professors Margaret Kyle (Mines ParisTech), Alessandro Nuvolari (St. Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa), Petra Moser (New York University) and Michelangelo Vasta (University of Siena). The main applicant for the infrastructure project Swedish Historical Patents participate as co-applicant in these proposals. On a national level, the work in association with the infrastructure has resulted in an interdisciplinary collaboration regarding funding of a research program on Intellectual Property together with Professors Eva Hemmungs Wirtén (Linköping University) and Frantzeska Papadopoulou (Stockholm University).