espite the global economic downturn, indicators of global innovative activity have remained strong during the past two years. The total global output of scientific journal papers in all research fields for the United States, the European Union (EU), and Asia-Pacific nations reached historic highs in 2009. The World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2010 World Intellectual Property Indicators index found that in 2008, the most recent year for which information is available, both the total number of global patent applications received and patent awards granted topped any previous year. And global trading volume in 2010 is on pace to rebound 9.5 over 2009 levels. Yet notwithstanding these indicators of strength, all is far from well with innovation and trade in the global economy.
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