| First-Time Patents Filed by Novice Inventors Working Independently and in Collaborative Labs across Five Domains |
|---|
| Domain | Independent offices | Collaborative open labs | Total | Percent filed in open labs |
|---|
| Robotics | 112 | 154 | 266 | 57.9% |
| Machine learning | 89 | 121 | 210 | 57.6% |
| Biomaterials | 97 | 106 | 203 | 52.2% |
| Photonics | 135 | 192 | 327 | 58.7% |
| Renewable energy | 23 | 26 | 49 | 53.1% |
In a national survey of early-stage inventors, innovation scholars tallied first-time patent filings made either from independent offices (stand-alone start-up) or from collaborative "open labs" that house multiple start-ups. Because collaborative open labs account for only about 18% of inventor mailing addresses in the regions studied, the researchers reasoned that if patent filings were randomly distributed, roughly 18% must originate from open labs. For each domain, they recorded the number of filings submitted from collaborative open labs and the number submitted from independent offices, and then compared those counts with what would be expected if filings were randomly distributed across the two settings. Based on this comparison, they argue that novice inventors working near other teams in open lab set-ups gain an early strategic advantage.
Which choice best describes data from the table that support the researchers' claim?
