TENNESSEE INVENTION INDEX – MARCH 2025

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

Tennessee Invention Index March 2025: 1.56% (A+ grade)

Tennessee 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).

Tennessee Invention Index Scores (Sept 2024 – Mar 2025)

Analysis

Comparison with Previous Months:
The most recent Invention Index score for March 2025 stands at 1.56%, which reflects a slight decline from February 2025’s peak of 1.75%. While modest, this 0.19 percentage point decrease marks a reversal from the preceding upward momentum seen in December (1.55%) and January (1.56%). The March figure returns to the January level, indicating a possible stabilization rather than a continuous upward or downward movement.

Long-Term Trends:
Over the six-month period, the scores show some fluctuation but generally maintain a strong performance, mostly within the A+ grade bracket. The lowest point was in November 2024 at 1.25% (B grade), followed by a consistent rise through February 2025. Despite the brief dip in March, the long-term trend leans positive, with four of the last five months scoring above 1.5%.

Significant Changes:
November 2024 saw the most notable drop, decreasing by 0.41 percentage points from October’s 1.66%. This abrupt decline marked the only sub-A+ month in the data set. Conversely, February 2025 presented the highest score at 1.75%, a significant 0.2 point increase from January. These changes suggest sensitivity in the index, although no causes are indicated in the available data.

Contextualizing the Data:
March 2025’s score of 1.56% aligns with January’s and is just below December’s, suggesting that the February spike may have been a short-term deviation. While not the peak, the March score continues the overall high performance trend and does not suggest a downturn, but rather a potential return to a stable, strong baseline.

Discussion:

In March, the Tennessee Invention Index scored a positive sentiment which was higher than the previous year’s average but 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.

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