The level of invention capacity, expressed in terms of the number of patents, might also reflect the strength and efficiency of IP protection in a country in which an applicant wants to protect her invention (Eaton et al. 1998, Paci et al. 1997, Fulton 1997, Sternitzke 2009). In other words, efficient protection of intellectual property produced within a country gives a foreign applicant who is transferring its technology to that country a guarantee that her protection will also obtain a required level of protection.