The number of patents granted to inventors by the United States Patent Office dropped from 56,000 in 1971to 45,000 in 1978. Spending on research and development, which peaked at 3 percent of the gross nationalproduct (GNP) in 1964, was only 2.2 percent of the GNP in 1978. During this period, when the United Statespercentage was steadily decreasing, West Germany and Japan increased the percentage of their GNP's spenton research and development to 3.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information above?

【选项】Between 1964 and 1978 the United States consistently spent a larger percentage of its GNP on research and development than did Japan.