Iskren Konstantinov
University of National and World Economy
https://doi.org/10.53656/str2025-1s-15-eco
Abstract. From the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century, Asian countries have managed to achieve remarkable economic development with a focus on innovations. The intellectual property system, particularly the patenting system, has provided a means of protecting the innovative and useful technical solutions to problems generated on the continent and has been a prerequisite for establishing competitive market advantages. This paper focuses on the development of six Asian economies leading in different income groups from 2014 to 2023 – Singapore, South Korea, China, Malaysia, India, and Vietnam. The countries will be compared considering gross domestic product, patent applications, export of high technologies, number of researchers, and research and development expenditure. The paper looks to determine whether the observed various leading Asian economies rely on research and development and the help of the intellectual property rights system to create innovation and be more competitive.
Keywords: intellectual property, innovation, Asia
