WEST VIRGINIA INVENTION INDEX – MARCH 2025

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

West Virginia Invention Index March 2025: 1.03% (C grade)

West Virginia 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).

Analysis:

Comparison with Previous Months:
The March 2025 score (1.03%) is identical to the scores seen in September, November, and December 2024, indicating a return to a stable baseline. Compared to February 2025 (1.24%), there’s a modest decrease, and it marks a rebound from the January 2025 dip (0.83%).

Long-Term Trends:
Over the past seven months, West Virginia’s Invention Index has shown limited volatility, generally clustering around the 1.03% mark. The only notable deviations from this pattern were October 2024 (2.28%) and January 2025 (0.83%). These anomalies stand out in an otherwise consistent trend.

Significant Changes:
October 2024 had the highest score at 2.28%, more than double the scores of most other months. This sharp spike suggests a temporary surge in inventive activity. Conversely, January 2025 saw the lowest score at 0.83%, indicating a brief decline. Both months represent significant departures from the average and merit closer examination if additional context becomes available.

Contextualizing the Data:
The March 2025 score aligns with the most common value observed, reinforcing the notion that 1.03% represents a typical month for West Virginia. Its consistency with past data suggests that the variations in October 2024 and January 2025 were outliers rather than indicators of a longer-term shift.

Discussion:

In March, the West Virginia Invention Index scored a positive 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 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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