NORTH DAKOTA INVENTION INDEX – MARCH 2025

The Invention Index measures a country’s or state’s innovation output by comparing GDP growth with patent production growth. 

North Dakota Invention Index March 2025: 1.06% (A- grade)

North Dakota 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).

North Dakota Invention Index (Sep 2024 – Mar 2025)

Analysis of North Dakota Invention Index (Sep 2024 – Mar 2025)

Comparison with Previous Months:
The Invention Index for March 2025 was 1.06%, showing a slight decline from February 2025 (1.08%) and a larger drop compared to January’s peak of 1.14%. This marks a second consecutive monthly decrease. Notably, the index decreased by 0.08 percentage points from the high in October 2024 (1.17%) to March 2025.

Long-Term Trends:
Over the seven-month period, the Index demonstrates moderate fluctuation, generally ranging from 1.04% to 1.17%. While October 2024 had the highest score, the values have not deviated drastically, indicating a relatively consistent trend without extreme volatility.

Significant Changes:
October 2024 stands out with the highest recorded score of 1.17%, a noticeable increase from September’s 1.04%. This spike may indicate a particularly innovative period, though no further details are available. Conversely, the gradual decline from January to March 2025 suggests a downward trend, albeit not a sharp one.

Contextualizing the Data:
March 2025’s score of 1.06% is slightly below the average for the observed period and continues a gentle downward trajectory from earlier in the year. While not drastically low, this could suggest a cooling phase following stronger performances in late 2024. Given the consistency of prior scores, the March figure seems more like a part of a mild decline rather than an outlier or abrupt shift.

Discussion:

In March, the North Dakota Invention Index scored a positive sentiment which was lower than the previous year’s average and underperformed the upward trend for the year. This is similar to the prior 12 months, which experienced an 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.

Are you thinking of patenting any of your bright ideas? Did you know your research work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

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