Changing nature of patents in Australia

The past decades have seen substantial changes to the innovation system of major economies,
not the least due to a paradigm shift caused by the digital revolution. Whether smaller advanced
economies such as Australia went through a similar shift or moved to fill the void left by other
countries is unclear. I use Australian patent data and show that here has been a similar surge in
patenting mainly driven by medical and digital technologies. Australia, however, is showing more
strength in a few niche areas. At the same time, the scope of patents, as one measure of
basicness, narrowed over the years. This move was driven by private companies opting for
applied research and also refocusing their innovation efforts away from chemical and material
technologies and onto digital technologies and other applied areas.