Foreign Direct Investment andIntellectual Property
Innovation in the United States
A Profile of Global and U.S. Innovators

2021

Obafemi Elegbede Ph.D.

Fernando Gutierrez

Elizabeth Schaefer

Santhosh MetriTable of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1
Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Multinational Company Patents in a Global Context ................................................................................... 2
Top 100 Innovative Investors in the United States ....................................................................................... 5
FDI Profile of Top 100 FDI Innovators ........................................................................................................... 5
Patent Profile of Top 100 foreign investors .................................................................................................. 8
Top FDI Investors in the United States ....................................................................................................... 11
Patent Trend Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 12
Sample FDI Innovative Companies Investing in the United States ............................................................. 15
US Federal Resources and Tools to Facilitate FDI Innovation ..................................................................... 16
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 16

INTRODUCTION
This report explores the contributions in innovation of top foreign direct investments (FDI) in the UnitedStates. It features comparisons between top investor patent performance in the United States and therest of the world, details on the key sectors and geographies in the United States where the top FDI
investors do business, and informative investor-specific experiences.
The U.S. innovation ecosystem’s strong intellectual property protection benefits both domestic andforeign-owned companies by incentivizing research and development (R&D) activities. The outsizedmagnitude of research and development activity in the United States by foreign-owned firms
demonstrates the desirability of the United States as a destination to create, protect, and monetize
intellectual capital.

METHODOLOGYThis analysis examines characteristics of the top 1,000 global multinational companies that are also
patent holders, based on data from Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property from
Bureau van Dijk– a Moody’s Analytics company. Bureau van Dijk’s Orbis Crossborder database captures
both forms of equity investments (greenfield FDI projects and crossborder M&A deals), and its
Intellectual Property database captures multiple dimensions of patent filings and performance. This
analysis provides unique insights into the profile of top global innovators by blending FDI data elementswith intellectual property data elements to build a novel profile of FDI innovation in the United States by
top multinationals. Unless otherwise noted, the data presented reflects a snapshot of FDI and patentactivity as of January 2013 to December 2018.
Top global FDI multinationals, defined by the companies with the greatest number of cross-borderinvestments, were identified in the Crossborder database. The top FDI multinationals were thenaggregated into a sample of top global patent holders by patent count to narrow down the sample set
to 100 multinationals with the greatest number of cross-border investments and patents owned bythese entities.
To dive deeper into characteristics of the largest foreign-owned innovators in the United States, only
global multinationals that are also patent holders were considered for the analysis. Both public andprivately held companies were included in the analysis.
Patent valuations come from a data provider called IP Business Information (IPBI).1 IPBI is a Dutch
company focusing on Intellectual Property (IP) valuation, IP big data processing, and IP data in general.
For this collaboration with Orbis Intellectual Property, IPBI has processed datasets from different official
patent offices worldwide, with specific algorithms and rule sets. All live and granted patents are given a
valuation, and form the extensive dataset used in the evaluation of the Innovation Strength Indicators.

1

IPBI is a spin off company of InTraCom Group, the global leader in patent valuations and licensing advisory.
InTraCom Group is often engaged for their services in IP litigation advisory, as well as being called up as expert
witnesses in litigation cases

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For purposes of this analysis, innovation is characterized by the volume or value of patents held by aglobal multinational.

MULTINATIONAL COMPANY PATENTS IN A GLOBAL CONTEXTGlobal multinational companies (referred to as “multinationals”) represent large, sophisticated business
entities with investments and assets in multiple locations, including patents. By examining the 1,000
largest multinationals with the most FDI projects that are patent holders, we can learn where theselarge firms come from and their primary industry. These top 1,000 investors represent 28 percent of the
global FDI projects globally between 2013 and 2018. They also hold 7 percent of global patents by countand 11 percent of global patents by value.2
A measure of Global Ultimate Owner (GUO) traces and attributes final ownership of a global
multinational to the country of the top parent in a multinational’s ownership chain. Figure 1 below
shows the top 10 source markets for these top 1,000 global multinationals.

FIGURE 1: TOP 1,000 INVESTORS WITH PATENTS BY SOURCE MARKET

Top 10 Source Markets
Count of Investors by Global Ultimate Owner (GUO) from Top 1,000 Global
Multinationals with Patents, Jan 2013 - Dec 2018
0

50

100

150

250

300

350

23%

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

11%

JAPAN

9%

GERMANYFRANCE

6%

UNITED KINGDOM

6%
5%

CHINA
SWITZERLAND

200

4%

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

3%

NETHERLANDS

3%OTHERS

31%

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics
company.

The United States is the leading source of innovating multinationals, hosting 23 percent of all innovative
2

The Orbis Intellectual Property database estimates global patent value by an indicator-based approach. The
valuation takes into account over 25+ market, legal, and financial indicators and is refreshed every 6 months. Someof the indicators used do take into consideration proprietary datasets on company financial statements, litigationcase outcomes, royalty rates, licensing agreements, and actual transaction values.

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companies from the top 1,000. Over 50 percent of the top 1,000 companies originate from just fivecountries: The United States, Japan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. China follows in 6thplace with 5 percent, or 50 of the top 1,000 innovative multinationals.
The most innovative American multinationals by count of total patents are from a diverse set of sectors,
including IBM, Dow Inc, General Electric Co, Johnson & Johnson, and Amazon. Leading non-U.S.
multinationals in this report include Panasonic (Japan), Samsung Electronics (Republic of Korea),
Siemens AG (Germany), Nestle (Switzerland), and Huawei (China).
The top ten destination countries of these top 1,000 multinational investors’ FDI projects are highlighted
in Figure 2 below. The United States is the top destination of cross border FDI projects from innovative
multinationals, receiving 11 percent of the total investment projects from the top 1,000 multinationals.
Following closely as a preferred destination for innovation are China (8 percent), Germany (7 percent),
and the U.K. (6 percent).

FIGURE 2: TOP FDI DESTINATION MARKETS BY GLOBAL INNOVATORSTop 10 FDI Destination Markets
Count of FDI Projects from Top 1,000 Global Multinationals with Patents,
Jan 2013 - Dec 2021
0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

8%

CHINA

7%

GERMANY
UNITED KINGDOM

6%

INDIA

6%
4%

SPAIN

4%

MEXICO3%

FRANCEBRAZIL

3,500

11%

UNITED STATES OF AMERICACANADA

3,000

3%
2%

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics
company.

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Further exploration of these FDI projects divides them by sectors, as defined by North American
Information Classifications System (NAICS) codes. This reveals that FDI from the top 1,000 multinationals
includes multiple sectors including software and data processing, auto manufacturing and parts,
banking, finance, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. Figure 3, below, highlights the top ten sectors.
Additionally, each of these sectors contains subsectors that are uniquely driving innovation, such as:
artificial intelligence within tech, electric vehicles, and self-driving technology within automotive, andfintech within banking and finance.

FIGURE 3: TOP 1,000 INVESTORS WITH PATENTS BY SECTORTop Ten Sectors
Count of Patents by NAICS code
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200

1,386
861

713

610

555

483

457

454

410

330

0

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

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TOP 100 INNOVATIVE INVESTORS IN THE UNITED STATES
We identified the top 100 non-U.S. innovative investors by excluding all multinationals headquartered in
the United States, then selected the top 100 with the most investment projects from 2013 to 2018.

FDI PROFILE OF TOP 100 FDI INNOVATORSThe FDI profile of these top 100 innovative firms by source, U.S. state destination, and industry are
below.

FIGURE 4: TOP 100 FDI INNOVATORS IN THE UNITED STATES BY SOURCE MARKET

Top 10 Source Markets
Count of Top 100 Innovative Investors by Global Ultimate Owner (GUO),
2013-2018
0

2

4

6

GERMANY

10

12

14

16

18

20

19

JAPAN

18

FRANCE

10

SWITZERLAND

10UNITED KINGDOM8NETHERLANDS

5

CHINA

4

CANADA

3

INDIA

3

AUSTRALIA

82

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

Western Europe is the top source region of investments into the United States, home to over 50 percentof the top 100 innovative multinationals invested in the United States. Germany leads with 19 percent of
the top 100 innovative multinationals, followed by France (10 percent), Switzerland (10 percent), theU.K. (8 percent), and the Netherlands (5 percent).

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Asian innovative multinationals have also been very active on American soil, with Japan, China, Korea,
and India hosting over one third of the top 100 innovative companies in the United States.

FIGURE 5: TOP 100 FDI INNOVATORS IN THE UNITED STATES BY DESTINATION STATETop US Destination States
1,055 Total Investment Projects from the 100 Top FDI Innovators, by
Destination State of Investment Project, 2013 - 2018
0

20

40

60

CALIFORNIA

130

TEXAS

125

80

100

120

140

61

MICHIGANGEORGIA

54

OHIO

54

SOUTH CAROLINA54

TENNESSEE

48

FLORIDA44

ILLINOIS43

NEW YORK

43

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

The top 100 FDI innovators in the United States engaged in 1,055 investment projects from 2013 to2018, accounting for 12 percent of all investment projects into the United States in that time period(from a total 8,623 FDI projects tracked from 2013 to 2018). The top U.S. state attracting cross border
FDI projects was California, receiving 12 percent of the total investment projects from the top 100
innovative multinationals. Following closely as a preferred state destination for innovation were Texas(12 percent), and Michigan (6 percent).
According to Bureau van Dijk, a Moody’s Analytics company, the multinationals’ motives for expanding
included skilled workforce availability, government support, proximity to universities, researcher
availability, and technology and innovation expertise, among others. Accenture invested in the UnitedStates for “technology and innovation expertise” and its North America CEO, Ms. Julie Sweet, explained
the investment as follows:“With our network of innovation hubs across North America, we’re bringing innovation to ourclients’ doorsteps to help them compete and win in the digital economy. Continuous innovation is
critical to their success, and in our hubs we work side-by-side with our clients to help them bringsolutions to market faster and be the disrupters, not the disrupted.”

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FIGURE 6: TOP 100 FDI INNOVATORS IN THE UNITED STATES BY SECTOR

Top 10 FDI Sectors
Count of FDI Projects by NAICS of Top 100 FDI Investors in the United States
120
100
80
60

103
40

61
20

52

39

26

24

23

21

21

20

0

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

The top recipient sector from 2013 to 2018 in the United States is the automotive (Original Equipment
Manufacturer) and auto parts industry, which includes investments in electric vehicles and self-driving
technologies. See sample innovative company FDI projects on page 15. The tech sector followed closely
behind, including companies involved in data processing, hosting, computer systems design, and custom
computer programing services. Additionally, Industry 4.0, which is the name for the current trend of
automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, including cyber-physical systems, theInternet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing and creating the smart factor is included in
the top sectors with companies in the electrical equipment and components manufacturing.
This dataset is consistent with Bureau of Economic Analysis 2019 macroeconomic FDI activity data, thelatest available data as of March 2021. The data indicates that international companies operating in the
United States spend more than $71.4 billion on U.S. research and development activities, accounting fornearly 16 percent of all research and development performed by companies in the United States.

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PATENT PROFILE OF TOP 100 FOREIGN INVESTORS
Analysis of the datasets for the following sections emphasizes intellectual property with a focus onpatents as assets. Figures 7 through 13 explore the patent portfolio for the top 100 FDI non-U.S.
headquartered companies investing into the United States from 2009 to 2018 with patents.
Analysis of patents is generally done by patent portfolio or by patent family. The patent portfolio
considers patent publications. A patent publication is a region-specific published application for an
invention. A patent family is a collection of patent applications. Using portfolios of patent publications
enables analysis of the geographical distribution of patent values, rather than accounting for the value
at a family level, which would otherwise skew the analysis.

FIGURE 7: HEATMAP OF PATENT FILINGS FROM TOP 100 NON-US COMPANIESINVESTING IN THE UNITED STATES

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

Figure 7 indicates the count of regional filing of patents within the regional offices from 2009 to 2018.
When a company seeks to protect its intellectual property in a market where it may or may not dobusiness, it files a patent with the resident geographic authority, indicating the primary market for the
products and/or services offered by the FDI investing companies. In ten years, the top 100 FDI
companies in the United States engaged in 2.9 million patent filings in 76 markets, including the UnitedStates. The volume of patent filing density in Japan may be because among the highly innovative FDI
investors there are 18 Japanese firms owning nearly 40 percent of the total patents on the top 100
companies. Furthermore, the Japan office has held the top spot for patent filings for nearly four
decades.

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Figure 8, in contrast to the patent count volume distribution, illustrates the value of the patents over thesame time period, indicating the value of the corresponding patents that are filed in the respective
regional patent offices. The average U.S. value of a patent is $136,590, which is nearly 1.8 times larger
than the average patent value in non-U.S. destinations. This could be due to multiple factors, such as
regional advancement in specific technologies, increased awareness of the intellectual property
amongst the population. Other factors include the high quality of the assets themselves, high quality
patent examination standards, historical success in patent commercialization, successful track record forrights enforcement, global demand for the asset, or simply key market placement. The shift fromJapanese patent filing density to the United States and Chinese filings reflects increasing
commercialization activity and high transaction prices for patent families that included a U.S. patent.
The shift occurred around 2014 to 2015. Since 2017, Japan has not been in the top spot for highest
number of patents being filed and has been second within the FDI 100 sample set.

FIGURE 8: HEATMAP OF PATENT VALUES FROM TOP 100 NON-US COMPANIESINVESTING IN THE UNITED STATES

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

Breaking down the top 100 firms by patent count further by category, the top two categories aretransport and electric machinery apparatus and energy technology. This is unsurprising given theconcentration of FDI in automobile manufacturing in the United States. Figure 9 is based on patentfilings for ten years, between 2009 and 2018. Every published patent document is classified into one ormore International Patent Classification (IPC) Classes, which are then grouped to come up with a

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broader technology classification such as World IP Office (WIPO) Classifications as indicated below.
When the same patents (patents from 2009 to 2018) are divided by patent value, computer technology
jumps to the top spot, with a technology classification valuation of over $20.1 billion. Patents in theelectric machinery, apparatus, and energy technology category then hold the number two spot with avaluation of $15.7 billion.

FIGURE 9: TECHNOLOGY CLASSES OF PATENTS FROM TOP 100 NON-US COMPANIES INVESTING IN
THE UNITED STATES

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

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TOP FDI INVESTORS IN THE UNITED STATES
Figures 10 and 11 list the top 10 FDI innovators from 2009 to 2018 by number of patents and patentvalue. These companies have long histories of investment and growth in the United States.
The values of the patents made in the United States are relatively high compared to the number ofpatents filed. For example, while only 19 percent of Samsung’s global patent filings were in the UnitedStates, those patents accounted for 88 percent of its global patent value. This indicates that the U.S.
intellectual property system and economy deliver and reinforce consistent patent value to foreign
investors.

FIGURE 10: TOP 10 FDI INVESTORS IN THE UNITED STATES BY PATENT COUNT AND BY
PATENT VALUE
Top 10 Investors in the United States by Number of Patents Filed
2009-2018
Company name# ofPatents

Share of
Patents in
U.S.

Share of
Non-U.S.
Patents

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

982,794

19%

81%

HITACHI LTD

936,446

15%

85%

CANON INCORPORATED

765,8158%92%

SIEMENS AG

621,317

11%

89%

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

544,024

10%

90%

ROBERT BOSCH INDUSTRIETREUHAND KOMMANDITGESELLSCHAFT

504,580

49%

51%

BAYER AG

416,601

12%

88%

ROBERT BOSCH GESELLSCHAFT MIT BESCHRAENKTER HAFTUNG

391,717

11%

89%

BASF SE363,685

7%93%

SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES LTD

297,64210%90%

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

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FIGURE 11: TOP 10 FDI INVESTORS IN THE UNITED STATES BY PATENT VALUE
Top 10 Investors in the United States by Patent Value
2009-2018

Company nameSAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
CANON INCORPORATEDHITACHI LTD
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATIONDENSO CORPORATIONSIEMENS AG
HONDA MOTOR CO LTD
ROBERT BOSCH INDUSTRIETREUHAND KOMMANDITGESELLSCHAFTNISSAN MOTOR CO LTD
ROBERT BOSCH GESELLSCHAFT MIT BESCHRAENKTER HAFTUNG

AggregatedPatentValue(Billions
USD)
24.1
22.8
17.8
16.8
8.8
7.4
7.1
6.2
5.2
5.1

Share of
PatentValue inU.S.

Share of
Non-U.S.
Patents

88%
71%
46%
81%
33%
79%
48%
50%
59%
51%

12%
29%
54%
19%
67%
21%
52%
50%
41%
49%

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

PATENT TREND ANALYSIS
Significant global macroeconomic changes occurred between 2009 and 2018— the global financial crisis
had just rattled the global economy and then saw a record long recovery. The timeframe reveals how
companies’ actions evolved over the course of the recovery. To dig deeper, we split the timeframe into
two five-year splits: the first period in 2009 to 2013 and the second in 2014 to 2018.
There are some clearly defined trends. In the earlier 2009 to 2013 period, patent filing volumes indicatethat Japan was the leading geography of focus for most of the investing firms with 377,023 filings. The
United States followed Japan with a little over 50 percent of the patents filed in Japan (199,393 filings).
China claimed third place (162,609) and the European Patent Office claimed fourth (162,609) in thelargest patent filing destination rankings.
The 2014 to 2018 five-year period shows a definitive increase in patent filings to the United States as the
top destination. The United States captured 308,283 patent filings from the top 100 companies,
grabbing the top patent filing destination spot from Japan who captured 306,468 filings, followed by
China (190,045 filings), and the European Patent Office (138,816 filings).
As discussed earlier, there are clear differences when measuring patent filing by destination (volume)and patent value. As volumes slightly ticked downward from the first to the second timeframe, ithighlights the role of strategy in investment filings. The valuations of the patents filed in the second
period increased by 60 percent compared to the first period, indicating the strength of the patents. The

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increase could be attributed to increased awareness of IP and its influence, strategic filing of IP in key
regions, high quality IP based on invention regions, or focus on quality versus quantity of patents being
filed or owned by the investors. While the scope of this analysis does not explore the dominant effects
which contributed to that uptick in patent filing value, there are a few simultaneous, correlated
observations. Of the top 100 non-U.S. global multinationals with patents in the United States, overall
patent filings shifted to prioritize the United States from 2014 to 2019 and in the same period, total
portfolio valuations of those global patents increased significantly.

FIGURE 12: PATENT TREND ANALYSIS OVER 10-YEAR PERIOD BY VOLUME AND VALUE

Within 10 Year Trend Analysis by Volume and Value
Top 100 Non-U.S. HQ Global Multinationals with Patents in the UnitedStates050,000100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 400,000 450,000

Patent Filings

Portfolio values (millions)

2009-132014-18

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

Beyond patent volume and value, we can also track other dimensions of patent performance quality
such as IP relevance, IP quality, market attractiveness, and technical quality. Figure 13 below shows, in2014 through 2018, overall increases across all these dimensions happening at the same time as an
uptick in patent filing volume in the United States. The analysis of these dimensions for the first andsecond investment period is provided below.

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FIGURE 13: PATENT TREND ANALYSIS OVER 10-YEAR PERIOD BY QUALITY

Within 10 Year Trend Analysis by Volume and Value
Top 100 Non-U.S. HQ Global Multinationals with Patents in the United States
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Total IP quality
IP relevanceTechnical quality
Market attractiveness2009-132014-18

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

The datasets for valuations are rated on a scale of 1 to 100, 1 being low quality, 100 being superior
quality. The four dimensions chosen for this analysis are:
•
•

•

•

Total IP Quality: Indicates a collective score on the quality indicators providing an overview of theoverall quality of the assets based on over 25+ legal, financial, and technological indicators.
IP Relevance: Indicates how relevant are the associated patents owned by the specific firm. Thisis a ratio of the market value of assets vs the turnover of the firm. Technology driven and IP centric
firms have more high IP Relevance scores.
Technical Quality: Provides an indication of the invention itself covered by the subject patent butcollectively at the portfolio level to indicate the collective quality of the patents within the given
technology area.
Market Attractiveness: Indicates the attractiveness of the patent based on the current trends forthe technology covered within the patent considering patent acquisitions, values paid for similar
IP, litigations and associated damages or royalties.

When the top 100 innovative non-U.S. HQ FDI investors prioritized patent filings in the United States,
increases in overall patent valuation and quality patent dimensions all increased at the same time. Other
countries did not see similar consistent improvement on these indicators in that timeframe.

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SAMPLE FDI INNOVATIVE COMPANIES INVESTING IN THE UNITEDSTATES
Drawn from the Orbis Crossborder Investment and Orbis Intellectual Property databases, the following
vignettes illustrate FDI projects from the top 100 non-U.S. headquartered companies in three
Audi of America opens a new artificial intelligence R&D center in San Jose, California

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

destination sectors: AI in the automotive industry, health research and development activities in theelectric and electronic industry, and manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry. While diverse byindustry and FDI activity, public quotes made by each investor all emphasize that the United States is abusiness destination that offers mutual benefits for the investor and the community.
In June 2020, Audi of America, a subsidiary of German Porsche Automobil Holding SE, announced thatthey had opened a new artificial intelligence R&D center in San Jose, CA to serve the North American
regional market. The investment was motivated by domestic market potential and skilled workforce
availability.
Mr. Frank Grosshauser, Senior Director of the Advance Driver Assistance Systems unit of Audi ofAmericas, said: “Given the rapid advancement of driver assistance technologies in North America, it’s
important to be part of the latest breakthroughs, work with leading edge technology start-ups andattract the top talent. We’re looking to bring on as many as 60 engineers to develop new functionalities,
catered specifically to North American Audi customer needs.”
Braun Corporation to open innovation, research, and development center in Carmel, Indiana

Source: Orbis Crossborder Investment, from Bureau van Dijk - a Moody’s Analytics company.

In September 2020, The Braun Corporation, a subsidiary of Swedish Investor AB, announced theyplanned to open an innovation, research, and development center in Carmel, Indiana, expected to openin April 2021. Ms. Staci Kroon, CEO, said: “The BraunAbility Global Innovation Lab will accelerate our
pursuit of life- changing innovation for those living with mobility challenges and those who care forthem. We appreciate the support of the City of Carmel, a community that is actively working to advancedisability inclusion throughout the city.”

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US FEDERAL RESOURCES AND TOOLS TO FACILITATE FDI INNOVATION
In addition to hosting leading technology start-ups and a robust intellectual property environment, theUnited States also offers programs at the federal and state level designed to attract innovative FDI. The
SelectUSA program in the U.S. Department of Commerce offers a geographically neutral single point ofcontact to access resources across over 20 U.S. government (USG) agencies. Some no-cost online tools
to help investors navigate U.S. potential programs and databases include The Federal Programs andIncentives Database and the portal to publicly listed U.S. State business incentives. There are more nonpublic incentives available at the state and sub-state level relating to potential innovative investmentsthat may be accessed through direct conversations with U.S. State Economic Development
Organizations (EDOs). The SelectUSA program conducts one-on-one client counseling, provides data andresearch products, and organizes investment promotion events overseas, domestically, and virtually todemonstrate the United States’ competitiveness and value proposition for high-impact international
business investment as well as offer resources for potential investors to understand the U.S. market andits EDO architecture. To access these resources, investors are invited to contact SelectUSA by emailingselectusa@trade.gov and visiting the SelectUSA website.

CONCLUSION
Innovative FDI in the United States benefits both the investing company and overall U.S.
competitiveness. When investors can safeguard their intellectual property in a robust patent ecosystem
combined with the world’s largest consumer market, the value of in-market innovation activity likeresearch and development work is demonstrably high. The result is that FDI investors have an outsized
impact on the U.S. innovation economy. According to the latest available BEA data, while FDI accounts
for 6 percent of total private sector employment and 7 percent of private U.S. business sector value
added, it also accounts for nearly 16 percent of U.S. business research and development. Looking at
both the top 1,000 global multinational investors from 2013 to 2019 and top 100 non-U.S.
headquartered multinational patent holders with U.S. patents from 2009 to 2018, the story is clear that
the United States is a top destination for global firms who hold large amounts of intellectual property.
This analysis shows the United States is both a top source and destination for innovative FDI projects. A
deeper dive into the last ten years of patents for top 10 non-U.S. headquartered FDI investors illustrates
how the largest investors in the United States increased their overall patent valuations and other patentquality indicators while they prioritized the United States as a patent filing destination. Recently
announced innovative FDI projects demonstrate the strength of United States’ federal programs, andthe robust intellectual property system will continue to benefit innovative companies and the overall
U.S. economy in the future.

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This report was produced by SelectUSA, U.S. Department of Commerce and Bureau van Dijk.

ABOUT SELECTUSA
SelectUSA is a U.S. government-wide program housed in the International Trade Administration at theUnited States Department of Commerce. Our mission is to facilitate job-creating business investment
into the United States and raise awareness of the critical role that economic development plays in the
U.S. economy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
SelectUSA Investment Research
SelectUSAData@trade.gov
www.SelectUSA.gov

ABOUT BUREAU VAN DJIKWith information on over 425 million companies, Bureau van Dijk is the resource for company data.
We capture and treat private company information for better decision making and increased
efficiency. A key benefit of our information is how simple we make it to compare companies
internationally. We provide you with access to precise, standardized information on privatecompanies and corporate structures, so that you can confidently and quickly make the most informed
decisions possible.
Orbis Intellectual Property provides a unique view on global patents through 143 million patents from157 countries linked to information on over 2 million companies enabling innovation, technology, andindustry trend analysis. It provides linked M&A and ownership timelines for all transacted patents,
and information on all transactions for a given patent. Patent valuations and global litigations enable
analysis of trends, and assessments of the commercial appeal of new technologies through proxies,
circumventing the delay of up to 18 months in patent publications. This unique combination ofcapabilities enables new perspectives on innovation and IP insights.
Orbis Crossborder Investment looks at globalization via projects and deals, delivers information on
the companies behind these investments – both listed and private. It tracks information daily, andmonitors announced, completed and cancelled/withdrawn projects and deals, as well as rumors andintentions. Orbis Crossborder Investment allows users to analyze FDI trends by geography and/ or
sector, generate leads for investment promotion/attraction.

U.S. Department of Commerce | International Trade Administration

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Bureau van Dijk
bvd@bvdinfo.com
www.bvdinfo.com

U.S. Department of Commerce | International Trade Administration

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