Italy has the highest number of users of patent information sources. This reflects the fact that patents are not only considered as an industrial property protection instrument, but also as a source of other information that can be used for commercial purposes. The Netherlands has a high percentage of patenting SMEs applying for World patents. A high percentage also judges that the spread of the Internet has changed their patent information search habits. Spain has the highest level of patenting SMEs.
National patents are the overwhelming category of patents applied for.
A very low percentage of patenting SMEs are using patent information sources. Scandinavian countries also have a high level of patenting SMEs, where SMEs judge patents as a particularly important form of industrial property protection. The pharmaceutical sector ranks the highest in almost all measures of patenting activity and behaviour. This confirms previous Derwent research 2 . Almost half of the companies in this sector have been involved in patenting activities and identify patents as a very important form of industrial protection measure.