B.R. posts nation’s lowest patent growth rate

Of the 358 metropolitan areas in the United States analyzed by the Brookings Institute for its recent report on patenting and innovation, Baton Rouge ranks dead last for patent growth per worker between 1990 and 2010. New Orleans is ranked second-to-last in the same report. The report says patenting is correlated with productivity growth, noting 14 of the 20 metro areas with the largest increase in patents per worker experienced above-average productivity growth. “The same relationship between patents and productivity changes can be drawn by examining metropolitan areas that developed fewer patents per worker over the three decades. Rust Belt metro areas with low productivity growth—like Pittsburgh, Toledo, and Buffalo—actually saw a decrease in the number of patents per worker. This is also true of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Louisville, and Baton Rouge, all three of which had very slow productivity growth,” reads the report. In recent years Baton Rouge has apparently fared better when it comes to patent growth per worker. For its average number of patents filed between 2007 and 2011, it ranks No. 141 of 358, with 71 per year. New Orleans ranks No. 79 in that category, with an average of 79 patents filed each year over the five-year period. Top patenting companies in Baton Rouge, according to the report, are Albemarle, Exxon and LSU. You can check out the complete report here, or see an overview with at-a-glance stats for every metro area here.