  Using techniques of data collection and mapping as overlays to Google
Maps--on the basis of patent information available online at the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO)--we point at two major and interconnected
challenges that policy-makers face in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) when
combating the lagging innovation performance. First, we address the spatial
concentration by using a distribution analysis at the city level. The results
suggest that patenting is concentrated in post-socialist territories more than
in western nations and regions. However, there is not a single outstanding hub
in CEE when one compares USPTO patents normalized for the respective population
sizes. Secondly, we argue that dominance of foreign control over USPTO patents
is mostly embodied in international co-operations at the individual level, and
only rarely spilled-over to MNE subsidiaries. In our opinion, catching-up of
CEE in terms of patenting is unlikely, unless innovation policy measures focus
on growing hubs and target both domestic inventors and international relations
of companies.
