EoW July 2013

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Northeast Ohio
A surge in patents obtained by
manufacturers is seen as a harbinger of
new prosperity in Thomas Edison country
“As tech companies amass the lion’s share of patents in the New
Economy, some of America’s oldest manufacturers are matching
them stride for stride, invention for invention. In manufacturing
centres like Northeast Ohio, some companies as old as their
industries are continuing to innovate like startups.”
Writing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Robert L Smith noted the
year 2011, when Diebold Inc, a company that began as a safe
maker in 1859, earned more than 100 patents on innovations in
areas like computer software and cryptography.
Rockwell Automation also passed the 100-plus mark that year,
for discoveries made in its Cleveland-area research labs. The
century-old Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co took out no fewer than
128 patents.
The quickening pace of patenting by manufacturers is a sign
of economic recovery; but according to experts consulted by
Mr Smith it is also a critical step toward future success. Research
and development allows companies like Diebold, Rockwell and
Goodyear to compete and often de ne the state-of-the-art
in global industries, said Tom Waltermire, the president of the
regional business-attraction agency Team NEO. He told the
Plain Dealer, “It’s why they’re alive.”
Mr Smith reported that researchers at the Brookings Institution,
one of Washington’s oldest think tanks, “see a bigger splash and
a model to be championed.”
They say the quest for discovery sends ripples across a regional
economy and does more than just about anything else to
promote prosperity. (“Patent Study Finds Venerable Cleveland
Companies Innovating Like Startups,” 27th May)
As it studied the pace of patenting across America, Brookings
found that patents and their pursuit spark investment and
innovation, which in turn leads to wealth creation, higher wages,
and often new jobs.
There is not a shopping mall or a stadium project that does
all of that, said Jonathan Rothwell, a Brookings researcher
and the lead author of “Patenting Prosperity: Invention
and Economic Performance in the United States and its
Metropolitan Areas.”
“What we’re saying is that innovation is a fundamental part of
long-term economic growth,” Mr Rothwell said. “The value that
comes out of these inventions has widespread public bene ts.”
For Greater Clevelanders, the work of Thomas Edison, born in
Milan, Ohio, is a ready example. Edison’s inventions did more
than light the night, wrote Mr Smith: they kindled General
Electric Company. A hundred years later, GE Lighting remains
one of the region’s major employers and taxpayers.
Dorothy Fabian
USA Editor