nep-ipr New Economics Papers
on Intellectual Property Rights
Issue of 2021‒11‒15
four papers chosen by
Giovanni Ramello
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”

  1. The Impact of Intellectual Property Protection through FTA on International Trade By Kim, Hyunsoo; Yea, Sangjun; Keum, Hyeyoon; Kang, Min Ji
  2. Information Leakage, Imitation, and the Patent System By Dirk Czarnitzki; Kristof Van Criekingen
  3. Reforming Patent Law: The Case of Covid‐​19 By Michele Boldrin; David K Levine
  4. Seven observations and research questions about Open Design and Open Source Hardware By Jérémy Bonvoisin; Robert Mies; Jean-François Boujut

  1. By: Kim, Hyunsoo (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)); Yea, Sangjun (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)); Keum, Hyeyoon (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)); Kang, Min Ji (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP))
    Abstract: The importance of intellectual property rights (IPRs) for innovation has grown and the protection of intellectual property in international trade has also been strengthened. AI-related patent applications have been increasing rapidly and many AI patents are being filed in various industries. Intellectual property also represents one of the main controversies of U.S.-China trade relations in the past three decades and remains one of the core issues behind the two countries' recent trade conflicts. As a result, global protection for IPRs has been expanded in recent decades. This article investigates changes in the trend regarding the IP protection level in FTA and how the IP protection through FTAs has affected the composition of aggregate trade flows of member countries in order to provide basic findings necessary to formulate the FTA policies regarding the protection of IPRs in Korea.
    Keywords: FTA; IPRs; international trade; policy
    Date: 2021–08–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kiepwe:2021_034&r=
  2. By: Dirk Czarnitzki; Kristof Van Criekingen
    Abstract: From a firm’s perspective two competing forces are driving the decision to invest in innovation. On the one hand, innovative performance is an important driver of profitability and growth. On the other hand, investments in innovation suffer from negative externalities, i.e. spillovers to other firms, and hence imitation could be induced. To preempt imitation firms may protect their inventions by means of intellectual property rights, such as patents. By taking out a patent, however, a firm also conveys information about the functioning of the invention to competitors. In this empirical paper, we highlight the trade-off of patenting by setting up a recursive system of equations on knowledge leakage and imitation that, among other factors, may be partly determined by firms’ patenting activity. Thereby we contribute to the debate on the functioning of the contemporary patent system. We find that patenting firms are being less confronted with imitation. The effect of patents on the dissemination of R&D findings is, however, insignificant. Therefore, we conclude that patent disclosures do not significantly harm the appropriability conditions for inventions, but help to protect, at least partly, against imitation, as it has been originally envisaged by policy.
    Keywords: Innovation, R&D, Imitation, Dissemination, Patents
    Date: 2021–10–29
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:msiper:682983&r=
  3. By: Michele Boldrin; David K Levine
    Date: 2021–10–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levarc:786969000000001782&r=
  4. By: Jérémy Bonvoisin (University of Bath [Bath]); Robert Mies (TU - Technische Universität Berlin); Jean-François Boujut (G-SCOP_CC - Conception collaborative - G-SCOP - Laboratoire des sciences pour la conception, l'optimisation et la production - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes)
    Abstract: 'Openness' is one of the key concepts brought forward by postindustrial narratives questioning the modern repartition of roles between industries and customers. In these narratives, citizen participation in design and intellectual property management based on open source principles are the promise of more sustainable production models. In this context, openness in product design and development has been the object of growing interest and experimentation from academia, businesses and grassroots communities. As a result, numerous concepts emerged that attempt to grasp the essence of this phenomenon, unfortunately leading to overlapping, conflicting or speculative depictions. In this article, we share the understanding we gained throughout 6 years of research on Open Design and Open Source Hardware and attempt to make the difference between myths and facts. We depict an enthusiastic but realistic picture of Open Design and Open Source Hardware practices as we could observe them and deliver a structured framework to situate concepts and their differences. From this, we share seven observations leading to seven corresponding research questions and establish a research agenda to stimulate further investigations into this socially relevant and potentially groundbreaking phenomenon.
    Keywords: open source product development,open source innovation,crowdsourcing,social product development
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03395460&r=

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