NEW YORK INVENTION INDEX – MARCH 2025
The Invention Index measures a country’s or state’s innovation output by comparing GDP growth with patent production growth.
New York Invention Index March 2025: 0.87% (D+ grade)
New York Invention Index over the last year:
Anything over C grade is positive sentiment; anything under C is negative outlook/sentiment. Using that sentiment, it is possible to observe trends over time, and also compare states/countries. In doing so we can predict which states have the best chance to recover economically from the pandemic (or any other economic incident that may occur).
Invention Index Scores for New York (September 2024 – March 2025)
| Month | Invention Index Score |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | 0.95% (C- grade) |
| October 2024 | 1.24% (B- grade) |
| November 2024 | 0.85% (D+ grade) |
| December 2024 | 0.91% (D+ grade) |
| February 2025 | 0.89% (D+ grade) |
| March 2025 | 0.87% (D+ grade) |
Analysis
Comparison with Previous Months: The most recent score (March 2025) of 0.87% is a slight decrease from February 2025’s 0.89%, continuing a consistent trend of lower scores over the past few months. The highest score during the period occurred in October 2024 (1.24%), which was followed by a noticeable decline in November (0.85%). After November, the scores remained relatively stable with minor fluctuations between 0.85% and 0.95%.
Long-Term Trends: Over the six-month period, the Invention Index for New York saw an overall decrease in scores. The score peaked in October 2024 but has gradually declined since then, settling between 0.85% and 0.91% in the subsequent months. This downward trend suggests a potential long-term decrease in innovation activity or patent filings in the state.
Significant Changes: October 2024 marked the most significant increase in the index, rising from 0.95% in September to 1.24%. This sharp rise may indicate a temporary surge in innovation activity. However, the drop in November 2024 to 0.85% and the subsequent months at similar levels suggest that this increase was short-lived.
Contextualizing the Data: The score for March 2025 (0.87%) is in line with the overall pattern observed in the months following the peak in October 2024. It appears to be part of a consistent lower trend rather than a temporary fluctuation. While the data does not suggest a dramatic shift, the sustained lower scores could indicate an ongoing trend in New York’s innovation activity.
Discussion:
In March, the New York Invention Index scored a negative sentiment which was lower than the previous year’s average and underperformed the downward trend for the year. This is in contrast to the prior 12 months, which experienced a slight upward trend. As the world continues to recover from the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is unclear if there is any backlog of applications awaiting approval or if the department has fully caught up. If approvals are not yet caught up, we may see a decrease in approvals – and a reduced Invention Index – in the coming months/years as the state feels the full economic impact of companies closing and/or being forced to minimize their staffing and therefore minimize their R&D work hours.
Learn more about the Invention Index here.
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The Research & Experimentation Tax Credit (or R&D Tax Credit), is a general business tax credit under Internal Revenue Code section 41 for companies that incur research and development (R&D) costs in the United States. The credits are a tax incentive for performing qualified research in the United States, resulting in a credit to a tax return. For the first three years of R&D claims, 6% of the total qualified research expenses (QRE) form the gross credit. In the 4th year of claims and beyond, a base amount is calculated, and an adjusted expense line is multiplied times 14%. Click here to learn more.
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