Replication package for: Patently peculiar: Patents and innovation in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

Replication package for: Homer Wagenaar and Christopher L. Colvin, “Patently Peculiar: Patents and Innovation in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands”, Economic History Review (2026). Description: This dataset combines hand-collected information on the complete universe of patent applications submitted under the patent system of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1817 and 1830, including granted, rejected, and withdrawn applications. The data record the administrative process from application to decision and include information on patent type, fees, terms and conditions, applicant characteristics, technical and industrial advisers, and other features of the examination process. For granted patents, the dataset also incorporates information on patent characteristics and subsequent administration used in the article’s empirical analysis. Language: The dataset is in Dutch, unless the original source material was in French. Invention titles originally recorded in French were corrected and/or translated into modern Dutch in designated fields. Data sources: 1. Gerard Doorman, Het Nederlandsch octrooiwezen en de techniek der 19e eeuw (Nijhoff, 1947). Doorman collected most of the metadata contained in the registers of granted patents and added his own commentary on a selection of patents. His publication was scanned and used as a ‘spine’ to which additional archival information was added. 2. The original patent registers contain metadata for all patents granted between 1817 and 1830. These registers, including a replacement register compiled by Doorman for a lost register covering 1829–1839, are held at the Nationaal Archief (National Archives of the Netherlands, The Hague) under NL-HaNA, entry no. 2.04.23.01 (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken: Afdeling Nijverheid en voorgangers, 1817–1877), inventory nos. 1236–1240 (Registers van verleende octrooien). 3. Data on patent applications that were not granted were reconstructed from ministerial ledgers recording administrative communications. These were manually transcribed and used as a spine to which further information was added from the original files and dossiers of the Ministry of Education referenced in the ledgers, including reports and correspondence. Royal decrees and associated reports were used to fill in remaining metadata where possible. Additional primary and secondary sources were used for remaining information where available and are cited in the published article.