That looks sound but perhaps one might investigate all those patents to assess for sure if they are “innovative,” or merely “incremental.” Because only looking at rough numbers we might have distortions, e.g.: www.wired.com/story/big-te...

No doubt about the new economy as a whole and even of the Big 5, at least at the beginning - they were innovative and first movers. I just wonder if they did not stop innovating and relied on dominance ever - e.g. the last groundbreaking Apple launch was the Apple Watch, like almost a decade ago?

I agree we need more evidence but I wonder how may we create an “innovative index.” Would it be related to new products? To incremental advancements? If incremental, how should we define they’re really important and not only side updates?

Couldn’t someone also argue that those companies file defensive patents, on the same fashion as pharmaceutical companies, to disrupt potential competition and maintain established market power? That might justify the high amount of patents