The Global Corporate Patent Dataset (GCPD) v2 is a substantially expanded patent–firm linkage dataset for research on innovation, corporate finance, and technological change.
Originally released in 2019, the dataset has been significantly broadened in v2. The new release links about 5.3 million patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) between January 1976 and September 2023 to 25,000 publicly listed companies across 99 countries.
| GCPD V1 (2019) | GCPD V2 (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Years covered | 1980–2017 | 1976–Sep 2023 |
| Number of patents | 3.1 million | 5.3 million |
| Number of companies | 9.2 thousand | 25 thousand |
| Countries represented | 50 | 99 |
GCPD v2 is built using a multi-step matching procedure designed to improve both coverage and accuracy. As described in Section 2.4 and Appendix D of Barkemeyer, Bena, and Li (2026), the construction process normalizes firm and assignee names, generates candidate matches using fuzzy string similarity and web-identifier overlap, aggregates candidate links using rule-based acceptance criteria, and applies targeted manual validation and refinement. A final timing-correction step ensures that patents are linked to the firm identifier valid at the filing date, which is important when companies undergo name changes, mergers, or acquisitions.
Because the data are linked to Compustat North America and Compustat Global, GCPD v2 allows users to connect patenting activity to firm characteristics and outcomes across countries, industries, and time. Visit the Darden patent data website to explore the dataset’s coverage, and see the data access page for instructions on obtaining the data.
If you use the data, please cite Barkemeyer, David; Bena, Jan; and Li, Xiyue (2026), “Technology Life Cycles: Investment, Growth, and Firm Value.” Section 2.4 and Appendix D of the paper describe the dataset, its construction, and its main features. For the original version of the data, please cite Bena, Jan; Ferreira, Miguel A.; Matos, Pedro; and Pires, Pedro (2017), “Are foreign investors locusts? The long-term effects of foreign institutional ownership.” Journal of Financial Economics Volume 126, Issue 1, pp. 122-146.