The project examines the evolving geography of international technological knowledge diffusion over the last four decades using multiple patent-based indicators. We first review the main mechanisms through which knowledge diffuses across borders—including trade and global value chains, foreign direct investment, skilled migration, global science, and markets for technology—highlighting their complementarities and the role of domestic capabilities. We then provide new empirical evidence based on cross-border patent citations, technological trajectories defined by IPC recombinations, patent-to-science linkages, and international patent families. The results reveal persistent asymmetries, with a small group of advanced economies remaining central knowledge hubs, alongside the rising role of emerging countries, especially China. Science-based technologies diffuse more widely and faster, while capability constraints continue to limit integration in many regions.
The project was part of the World Intellectual Property Report 2026. Specifically, Chapter 2.
This chapter explores how technological knowledge travels across borders. It draws on patent data, scientific citations, and breakthrough technology trajectories to reveal that knowledge now diffuses faster than ever, yet remains highly concentrated among a small group of advanced economies. Digitalization has narrowed the gap between national and global knowledge flows, yet innovation leaders such as the US, Western Europe, and East Asia still dominate both the creation and absorption of new technologies. Examining channels such as trade, talent mobility, science networks, and IP, the chapter shows that diffusion is accelerating but uneven.
