The visualisation of patent statistics enables businesses and policy makers to use patent information for decision-making. Patent maps can be strategic tools not only for policy makers or big industry, but also for SMEs.

 The Japanese Patent Office has been providing patent maps for key areas of technologies to the user community in Japan since the late 1960s. Korea also places a strong focus on patent analysis and technology evaluation.  

This discussion round will use the example of "green patents", i.e. patents in the field of environmentally sound technologies, to take a closer look at the question how patent mapping and statistical analysis can help identify trends. How useful are patent statistics for identifying trends in new technologies like clean energy? Can patent mapping help discover changes in R&D activities? What can European users learn from the Asian example?