I also don't think we've suddenly become more focused on scientific achievement. I think we're at a point of our development where more of our advancements are patentable (and patented), which is exacerbated by the ability to patent things like gene sequences that people would not have thought to patent before. I think as private money lines up behind science more than ever before (as opposed to government funded research), more things will be patented, partly because more research will be aimed at creating consumer and commercial products.
I appreciate that I am unscientifically debating your scientific argument (about science - kind of ironic in light of what I am arguing actually). Apologies for that. It's the skeptic in me that sees these statistics as reflections of our consumer and corporate society more than as evidence of scientific achievement.