Global Innovation Networks of Japanese Companies, German Companies and US Companies

In the age of globalization multi-national companies conduct innovation in a global network. To analyze this phenomenon, this paper uses the international patent application data based on the Patent Cooperation Treaty and focuses Thailand as an overseas innovation site since the second largest number of research and development (R&D) centers of Japanese companies are located in Thailand in Asia after China. The paper has found that Japanese companies, US companies and German companies have different global innovation network patterns. The most frequent innovation network pattern of Japanese companies is Japan-Thailand collaboration; that of US ones is Thailand alone; and the most frequent innovation network patterns of German ones are the network of Germany, Thailand and third countries and Germany-Thailand collaboration.