nep-ipr New Economics Papers
on Intellectual Property Rights
Issue of 2009‒08‒02
five papers chosen by
Roland Kirstein
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

  1. From patent renewals to applications survival: do portfolio management strategies play a role in patent length? By Nicolas van Zeebroeck
  2. Patenting activity in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals: a comparative analysis of the Nordic Countries By Enrico Sorisio
  3. Patent Disclosure and R&D Competition in Pharmaceuticals. By Laura Magazzini; Fabio Pammolli; Massimo Riccaboni; Maria Alessandra Rossi
  4. How Do Young Innovative Companies Innovate? By Pellegrino, Gabriele; Piva, Mariacristina; Vivarelli, Marco
  5. Innovation as an emerging system property : an agent based model By Antonelli Cristiano; Ferraris Gianluigi

  1. By: Nicolas van Zeebroeck (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.)
    Abstract: The decision of firms to renew their patents is largely assumed to be the result of a careful valuation exercise to balance their expected revenues with renewal fees. This article extends this line of reasoning to all patent applications filed to the EPO over a 20 years period and analyzes with a survival time model the determinants of their maintenance throughout their life, from filing to withdrawal, refusal or lapse. The results first show that the classical patent value proxies (families, claims, IPC classes and forward citations) constitute strong predictors of the entire length of patent rights and even more so before their grant than after, suggesting that the length of an application, even non granted, is indicative of its expected private value to the firm. They suggest that the IP management strategies of the firms aiming at building large portfolios or families to protect their inventions make them less selective in their renewal decisions. Finally, the results suggest that even the length of non granted applications (i.e. the duration of their examination) is significantly influenced by factors relating to their scope and importance and to the patenting strategy of the firms and is therefore partly in control of the applicant, particularly through the PCT option and the filing of divisionals.
    Keywords: Patent length, Patent value, Renewals, Patent portfolio management, Survival Time Analysis
    JEL: O31 O34 O50
    Date: 2009–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:09-028&r=ipr
  2. By: Enrico Sorisio (Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo)
    Abstract: The main aim of this paper is to study innovative activity, as measured by patent indicators, in pharmaceutical and biotechnological sectors in the Nordic Countries. The biotech sector in general and pharmaceutical in particular is one of the areas selected for strategic investments in every Nordic country. In terms of patents granted by country of inventors Denmark plays a leading role followed by Sweden, while patenting activity in Finland and Norway is lower. A concentration of patents towards a relative small number of assignees (mainly large biotech and pharmaceutical companies based in Denmark and Sweden) is also observed. Norwegian patents, as measured by patent citations indices, are more “important” than those of the other countries, as well as in terms of relative size of innovations. Although there are other contributing factors, our data suggest that geographical proximity to large pharmaceutical companies plays a role in determining the relative success of national policies, and also that new investment policies in countries where large biotech or pharmaceutical companies are not established can yield positive returns in terms of innovation growth.
    Keywords: Patent data, Innovation, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical industry, Patent citations, Nordic Countries
    JEL: O31 O34 L65 C20
    Date: 2009–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20090722&r=ipr
  3. By: Laura Magazzini; Fabio Pammolli; Massimo Riccaboni; Maria Alessandra Rossi
    Abstract: The prominent role played by patents within the pharmaceutical domain is unquestionable. In this paper we take an unusual perspective and focus on a relatively neglected implication of patents: the effect of patent-induced information disclosure (of both successes and failures) on the dynamics of R&D and market competition. The study builds upon the combination of two large datasets, linking the information about patents to firm level data on R&D projects and their outcome. Two case studies in the fields of anti-inflammatory compounds and cancer research complement our analysis. We show the important role played by patent disclosure in shaping firms technological trajectories through the possibility of reciprocal monitoring in a context of parallel research efforts, and suggest the importance of enhancing the diffusion of information concerning failures, not only to avoid wasteful duplication of innovative efforts, but also as a tool for the identification of promising research trajectories. This paper is the result of the "R&D competition" research project carried out jointly with Adrian Towse and Martina Garau of the Office of Health Economics, London, UK. A preliminary draft of the paper has been presented to the DRUID Summer Conference 2006 (Copenhagen), and to the 11th ISS Conference (Sophia-Antipolis).
    JEL: D23 D83 O34
    Date: 2009–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trt:rockwp:053&r=ipr
  4. By: Pellegrino, Gabriele (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Piva, Mariacristina (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
    Abstract: This paper discusses the determinants of product innovation in young innovative companies (YICs) by looking at in-house and external R&D and at the acquisition of external technology in embodied and disembodied components. These input-output relationships are tested on a sample of innovative Italian firms. A sample-selection approach is applied. Results show that in-house R&D is linked to the propensity to introduce product innovation both in mature firms and YICs; however, innovation intensity in the YICs is mainly dependent on embodied technical change from external sources, while − in contrast with the incumbent firms − in-house R&D does not play a significant role.
    Keywords: R&D, product innovation, embodied technical change, CIS 3, sample selection
    JEL: O31
    Date: 2009–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4301&r=ipr
  5. By: Antonelli Cristiano (University of Turin); Ferraris Gianluigi
    Abstract: The paper elaborates the notion of innovation as an emerging property of complex system dynamics and presents an agent-based model of an economy where systemic knowledge interactions among heterogeneous agents are crucial for the generation of new technological knowledge and the introduction of innovations. In this approach external knowledge is an indispensable input,together with internal learning and research activities, into the generation of new knowledge. The introduction of innovations is analyzed as the result of systemic interactions among myopic agents that are credited with an extended procedural rationality that includes forms of creative reaction. The creative reaction of agents may lead to the introduction of productivity enhancing innovations. This takes place only when the structural and institutional characteristics of the system are such that agents, reacting to out-ofequilibrium conditions, can actually take advantage of external knowledge available within the innovation system into which they are embedded. Building upon agentbased simulation techniques the paper explores the effects that alternative configurations of the intellectual property right regimes play in assessing the chances to generate new technological knowledge and shows how the different architectural configurations of the structure into which knowledge interactions take place affect the rates of introduction of technological innovations. The results of the simulation model suggest that the dissemination of knowledge favors the emergence of creative reactions and hence faster rates of introduction of technological innovations.
    Date: 2009–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:200911&r=ipr

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