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on Intellectual Property Rights |
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Issue of 2014‒02‒15
six papers chosen by Giovanni Ramello Universita' del Piemonte Orientale Amedeo Avogadro |
| By: | Christian Le Bas; Julien Pénin |
| Abstract: | The standard view of patents emphasizes their dynamic efficiency. It considers that, by providing firms with incentives to invest in R&D and to disclose their knowledge, patents encourage innovation and increase social welfare in the long run. Yet, a growing body of literature opposes this view and asks for patent reform or even for the abolition of the patent system. In this work, which reviews the most recent literature on patents, we show that patents can have a negative impact on the dynamics of innovation. This is not due to some intrinsic properties of the patent system but to some of its recent evolutions which mean that, nowadays, too many patents are granted and that patent information is bad. The combination of those two elements explains most of the problems induced by modern patent systems such as hold-up (patent trolls), anti-commons (royalty stacking), and high transaction costs in markets for technology. We conclude by showing that realistic reforms can solve those problems and ensure that the patent system becomes again an instrument of dynamic efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Incentives, Patent, innovation policy, hold-up, trolls, anti-commons, markets for technology. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2014-02&r=ipr |
| By: | Stefan Wagner (ESMT); Simon Wakeman (ESMT) |
| Abstract: | Patent-based measures are frequently used as indicators in empirical research on innovation and technology as well as on firms’ strategies and organizational choices to characterize inventions or, more generally, innovative activities and the technological capabilities of organizations. A clear correlation between the value of an invention and a number of patent indicators such as the number of citations received has been established. However, there is much less evidence of what patent-based indicators tell us about outcomes beyond patent value. Using data from the pharmaceutical industry, we investigate the relationship between the most frequently used indicators and the outcomes from the product development process. Our findings draw a complex picture regarding the information content of various patent indicators that bear important implications for the use and the proper interpretation of these indicators in settings where they are employed to describe outcomes beyond the patent system itself. |
| Keywords: | Patent indicators, patent system, product commercialization, pharmaceutical industry, drug development |
| Date: | 2014–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esm:wpaper:esmt-14-01&r=ipr |
| By: | Joy Buchanan (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University); Bart Wilson (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | We conduct a laboratory experiment to explore whether the protection of intellectual property (IP) incentivizes people to create non-rivalrous knowledge goods, foregoing the production of other rivalrous goods. In the contrasting treatment with no IP protection, participants are free to resell and remake non-rivalrous knowledge goods originally created by others. We find that creators reap substantial profits when IP is protected and that rampant pirating is common when there is no IP protection, but IP protection in and of itself is neither necessary nor sufficient for generating wealth from the discovery of knowledge goods. Rather, individual entrepreneurship is the key. Length: 36 |
| Keywords: | intellectual property, experimental economics |
| JEL: | C92 D89 K39 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gms:wpaper:1044&r=ipr |
| By: | Stefano Breschi (CRIOS – Università Bocconi, Milan); Francesco Lissoni (GREThA – Université Montesquieu, Bordeaux IV and CRIOS – Università Bocconi, Milan); Gianluca Tarasconi (CRIOS – Università Bocconi, Milan) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the existing literature on migration and innovation, with special emphasis on empirical studies based on patent and inventor data. Other sources of micro-data are examined, too, for comparative purposes. A pilot database, based on patent filings at the European Patent Office is presented. It contains information on individual inventors, including their country of residence and of origin. Preliminary evidence suggests that immigrant inventors contribute to innovation not only in the US, but also in selected European countries, where they often rank among the most productive individuals. Data on returnee inventors to selected countries of origin suggest the phenomenon to be of limited scale, and highly subject to errors of measurement. |
| Keywords: | immigration, innovation, inventor data, patent data |
| JEL: | F22 O15 O31 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wip:wpaper:17&r=ipr |
| By: | Travis J. Lybbert (Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Davis); Nikolas J. Zolas (Center for Economic Studies, United States Census Bureau); Prantik Bhattacharyya (Software Engineer, Klout) |
| Abstract: | Trademarks (TMs) shape the competitive landscape of markets for goods and services in all countries through branding and conveying information and quality inherent in products. Yet, researchers are largely unable to conduct rigorous empirical analysis of TMs in the modern economy because TM data and economic activity data are organized differently and cannot be analyzed jointly at the industry or sectoral level. We propose an ‘Algorithmic Links with Probabilities’ (ALP) approach to match TM data to economic data and enable these data to speak to each other. Specifically, we construct a NICE Class Level concordance that maps TM data into trade and industry categories forward and backward. This concordance allows researchers to analyze differences in TM usage across both economic and TM sectors. In this paper, we apply this ALP concordance for TMs to characterize patterns in TM applications across countries, industries, income levels and more. We also use the concordance to investigate some of the key determinants of international technology transfer by comparing bilateral TM applications and bilateral patent applications. We conclude with a discussion of possible extensions of this work, including deeper indicator-level concordances and further analyses that are possible once TM data are linked with economic activity data. |
| Keywords: | Trademarks, Economics, Concordance, International trade, ISIC, SITC |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wip:wpaper:14&r=ipr |
| By: | Carol A. Corrado (The Conference Board, New York, United States of America); Janet X. Hao (The Conference Board, New York, United States of America) |
| Abstract: | The paper looks at brands from an economic point of view. First, we define concepts and set out this approach. Second, we analyze the conditions under which brands are long-lived productive assets and contribute to economic growth. Third, we review and improve the measurement of investment in brands. We find that a productive role for brands is consistent with assumptions used in the economic analysis of innovation. Productivity decompositions using the intangibles framework support brand as a contributor to economic growth. We then develop (1) a new U.S. series for brand investment to cover all marketing, including “in-house” investment, and (2) a harmonized global indicator of brand investment covering 63 countries. We find that brand investment held up relatively well in the U.S. during the Great Recession and its aftermath whereas measures based mainly on purchased advertising services send a different signal. Finally we offer an analysis of economic development that suggests branding rises with growth and provide econometric evidence showing a significant positive relationship between the rate of brand investment and level of economic development. |
| Keywords: | Brands and brand equity, intangible investment, innovation, economic growth and development, national accounts and economic measurement. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wip:wpaper:13&r=ipr |