Where Do Patents Come From?

Mercantilism and Innovation:

In the US, just over half of new patent applications originate from US inventors. (Based on country of first named inventor) That number has changed dramatically since 1965 when more than 75% of US applications had US origins. [Link] If the trend continues, the US will soon issue more patents to non-US inventors than to US inventors.

I'm sure this will alarm some people, but this seems to be mis-measuring an important metric. As more countries become increasingly educated and technologically advanced, it makes sense that more patents would originate outside the US as well as inside the US. If both are rising (which I assume they are), we should expect for a higher percentage to originate outside the US. My guess is that 100 years ago more than 90+% of patents originated from inside the US. That's because we weren't exchanging ideas and inventions with others as much back then. (Or idea piracy was more prevalent.) As the "market share" of patents in the US is decreasing, the "market share" of patents from the US in other countries is growing:

The EPO has already dropped below the 50% margin — Only 42% of EPO applications originate in Europe. And, the US is the most frequent country of origin for EPO applications when compared country by country. [Link] Japan’s figures make the USPTO & EPO appear overwhelmingly egalitarian. In Japan, 72% of the filed patent applications originate in Japan.

Issues & Notes:

• The graph posted comes from a recent OECD report on patent statistics.
• How will the US patent lobby fare politically when most new patents are held by foreign companies?
• Why are relatively few non-Japanese applications filed in Japan? Does Japan benefit from a structure where few foreign patents are issued or enforced?