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on Intellectual Property Rights |
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Issue of 2015‒08‒19
nine papers chosen by Giovanni Ramello Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” |
| By: | Dirk Czarnitzki (KU Leuven, Belgium); Thorsten Doherr (CREA, Université de Luxembourg); Katrin Hussinger (CREA, Université de Luxembourg); Paula Schliessler (KU Leuven, Belgium); Andrew A. Toole (Us Dept of Agriculture, Washington) |
| Abstract: | We examine how the ownership of intellectual property rights influences patenting of university- discovered inventions. In 2002, Germany transferred patent rights from faculty members to their universities. To identify the effect on the volume of patenting, we exploit the researcher-level exogeneity of the 2002 policy change using a novel researcher-level panel database that includes a control group not affected by the law change. For professors who had existing industry connections, the policy decreased patenting, but for those without prior industry connections, it increased patenting. Overall, fewer university inventions were patented following the shift from inventor to institutional ownership. |
| Keywords: | Intellectual property, patents, technology transfer, policy evaluation |
| JEL: | O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:15-05&r=all |
| By: | KAWAHAMA Noboru |
| Abstract: | The number of disputes relating to standard essential patents (SEPs), in which patent holders submit statements to commit to granting licenses on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) basis, have increased. The exercise of SEPs tends to cause problems such as hold-ups and royalty stacking and needs to be constrained somehow. Despite wide recognition of the need to address these problems, devising measures to resolve the issue has not been an easy task since various laws and principles are involved. These include patent and competition laws, as well as the opaque nature of the patent policies adopted by standard-setting organizations in light of relevant contract laws. The Intellectual Property High Court of Japan's decision in the Apple vs. Samsung case on May 16, 2014 provided partial solutions with regards to patent and contract law. However, problems have remained in the field of competition law, such as the question of how the exercise of patents charged with a FRAND commitment needs to be regulated under competition law. In this paper, the author first examines standard setting activities in light of competition law and then assesses the role of FRAND commitments in the standard-setting process. Based on this analysis, the baseline by which reasonable royalty rates should be calculated under competition law is clarified. This is followed by a proposal of an analytical framework for abusive conduct that departs from the above-prescribed baseline and appears to be—or clearly constitutes—a violation of competition law. |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:15043&r=all |
| By: | Abdelkader Baaziz (IRSIC - Institut de Recherches en Sciences de l'Information et de Communication - AMU - Aix-Marseille Université); Luc Quoniam (UTLN - Université de Toulon) |
| Abstract: | The Information Systems around patents are complex, their study coupled with a creative vision of "out of the box", overcomes the strict basic functions of the patent. We have, on several occasions, guiding research around the patent solely-based on information, since the writing of new patents; invalidation of existing patents, the creation of value-added information and their links to other Information Systems. The traditional R&D based on heavy investments is one type of technology transfer. But, patent information is also, another powerful tool of technology transfer, innovation and creativity. Indeed, conduct research on the patent, from an academic viewpoint, although not always focusing only on financial revenue, can be considered as a form of "Non Practicing Entities" (NPE) activity, called rightly or wrongly "Patent Trolls". We'll see why the term "patent troll" for this activity is controversial and inappropriate. The research we will describe in this paper falls within this context. We show two case studies of efficient use of patent information in Emerging countries, the first concern the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil and the second, the oil industry in Algeria. |
| Date: | 2014–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01087609&r=all |
| By: | Joerg Baten; Nicola Bianchi; Petra Moser |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether compulsory licensing – which allows governments to license patents without the consent of patent-owners – discourages invention. Our analysis exploits new historical data on German patents to examine the effects of compulsory licensing under the US Trading-with-the-Enemy Act on invention in Germany. We find that compulsory licensing was associated with a 28 percent increase in invention. Historical evidence indicates that, as a result of war-related demands, fields with licensing were negatively selected, so OLS estimates may underestimate the positive effects of compulsory licensing on future inventions. |
| JEL: | N3 N32 N34 O3 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21442&r=all |
| By: | Bronwyn H. Hall; Christian Helmers; Georg von Graevenitz |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of patent thickets on entry into technology areas by firms in the UK. We present a model that describes incentives to enter technology areas characterized by varying technological opportunity, complexity of technology, and the potential for hold?up in patent thickets. We show empirically that our measure of patent thickets is associated with a reduction of first time patenting in a given technology area controlling for the level of technological complexity and opportunity. Technological areas characterized by more technological complexity and opportunity, in contrast, see more entry. Our evidence indicates that patent thickets raise entry costs, which leads to less entry into technologies regardless of a firm?s size. |
| Keywords: | Patenting, Entry, Patent Thickets |
| JEL: | K11 L20 O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgs:wpaper:60&r=all |
| By: | Okada, Yoshimi; Nagaoka, Sadao |
| Abstract: | In order to assess the disclosure function of the patent system, this study examined the impact of the pre-grant publication system introduced in the United States in 2000. Unlike earlier studies, the applicant (inventor) non-self-citations (excluding examiner citations) were used to track knowledge flow. The causal effects of disclosure were identified by examining the changes in behavior before and after this legal change. The introduction of the pre-grant publication system was found to accelerate the initiation of knowledge diffusion significantly across all technology areas, except for Chemical field. The effect was the strongest in the Computers & Communications field, which had the longest publication lag before the reform. In addition, the initial slope of the diffusion curve rose while the long-term level of citation flow declined in the Computers & Communications field. In contrast, both of them rose in the Electrical & Electronic field. These results suggest the possibility that early disclosure not only stimulated complementary inventions but also helped inventors recognize early the duplications and then helped the reductions of duplicative R&D and/or applications, in a field with a long publication lag. In addition, we found that the examiner citation curve begins significantly earlier and more sharply compared to the applicant citation curve, which shows that examiner citation is a wrong measure of knowledge flow. |
| Keywords: | Disclosure, knowledge flow, patent, pre-grant publication |
| JEL: | O33 O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:iirwps:15-12&r=all |
| By: | Stefano Breschi (Bocconi University); Francesco Lissoni (Université de Bordeaux); Ernest Miguelez (Université de Bordeaux) |
| Abstract: | We assess the role of ethnic ties in the diffusion of technical knowledge by means of a database of patent filed by US-resident inventors of foreign origin, which we identify through name analysis. We consider ten important countries of origin of highly skilled migration to the US, both Asian and European, and test whether foreign inventors’ patents are disproportionately cited by: (i) co-ethnic migrants (“diaspora†effect); and (ii) inventors residing in their country of origin (“brain gain†effect). We find evidence of the diaspora effect for Asian countries, but not for European ones, with the exception of Russia. Diaspora effects do not translate necessarily into a brain gain effect, most notably for India; nor brain gain occurs only in presence of diaspora effects. Both the diaspora and the brain gain effects bear less weight than other knowledge transmission channels, such as co-invention networks and multinational companies. |
| Keywords: | migration, brain gain, diaspora, diffusion, inventors, patents |
| JEL: | F22 O15 O31 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1509&r=all |
| By: | Max Nathan |
| Abstract: | Minority ethnic inventors play important roles in US innovation, especially in high-tech regions such as Silicon Valley. Do ‘ethnicity–innovation’ channels exist elsewhere? Ethnicity could influence innovation via production complementarities from diverse inventor communities, co-ethnic network externalities or individual ‘stars’. I explore these issues using new UK patents microdata and a novel name-classification system. UK minority ethnic inventors are spatially concentrated, as in the USA, but have different characteristics reflecting UK-specific geography and history. I find that the diversity of inventor communities helps raise individual patenting, with suggestive influence of East Asian-origin stars. Majority inventors may benefit from multiplier effects. |
| Keywords: | innovation; cultural diversity; minority ethnic inventors patents; cities |
| JEL: | J15 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:57946&r=all |
| By: | Anna Gerke (Audencia Recherche - Audencia, CIAMS - Complexité, Innovation, Activités Motrices et Sportives - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11, University of Auckland [Auckland] - University of Auckland); Nicolas Chanavat (CIAMS - Complexité, Innovation, Activités Motrices et Sportives - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11); Maureen Benson-Rea (University of Auckland [Auckland] - University of Auckland) |
| Abstract: | While much marketing research has focused on brand creation and management, less isknown about the creation of sport brands. This paper complements the stakeholder model of brandingand brand creation, which highlights the role of a firm's stakeholders in the analysis of brands, byincluding country-specific factors based on location and Country-of-Origin (CoO). Using a sample ofinnovative New Zealand-based firms, our qualitative study uses a comparative case method in twosubsector settings to investigate how they have built outdoor sport brands based on that country'sparticular country-specific factors. We show how firms are able to leverage New Zealand's strong sportproduct category-country associations to create brand value. Our findings confirm that CoO imagetogether with sport product category-country associations enables the creation of brands in sportproduct categories. Our paper contributes to theory and practice by extending understanding of brandcreation by demonstrating the importance of location and product category. Further researchdirections are suggested. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01081136&r=all |