The Importance of the Evaluation of R&D in Relation to the Competitiveness of the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic considers the development of science and research as one of its priorities. To ensure the quality of results and the efficiency of public support, the best R&D results are considered to be: in particular articles in impact and selected peer-reviewed scientific journals, patents and similarly protected results (patent applications, granted patents, industrial designs) and licenses and applied outputs. The aim of the study is to analyze the state of innovation activities in relation to European Union countries. For this purpose, the analysis of selected indicators will be used: the proportion of R&D expenditure in relation to GDP and patent activity in the country. The processing of this issue was based on a literature research of professional literature articles on this topic from international databases (e.g. Eurostat). The analysis showed that Germany, the Nordic countries of Europe and France were among the countries with good results in the observed indicators of innovation activity in the EU. On the basis of the case study it was found, that profits from the commercialization of inventions are usually shared between the originator, the research department at which the invention was created and the headquarters of the University.