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on Intellectual Property Rights |
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Issue of 2017‒09‒03
three papers chosen by Giovanni Ramello Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” |
| By: | Koutroumpis, Pantelis; Leiponen, Aija; Thomas, Llewellyn D W |
| Abstract: | Abstract Inventions depend on skills, experience, and information exchange. Information is shared among individuals and organizations both intentionally and unintentionally. Unintentional flows of knowledge, or knowledge spillovers, are viewed as an integral element of technological progress. However, little is known about the overall patterns of knowledge flows across technology sectors or over long periods of time. This paper explores whether it is possible to identify “invention machines” – technologies that help create new inventions in a wide range of other sectors – and whether shifts in the patterns of knowledge flows can predict future technological change. In the spirit of big data we analyze the entire PatStat database of 90 million published patents from 160 patent offices over a century of invention and exploit variation within and across countries and technology fields over time. The direction and intensity of knowledge spillovers measured from prior-art citations highlight the transition from mechanical to electrical instruments, especially industrial control systems, and the rise of information and communication technologies as “invention machines” after 1970. Most recently, the rapidly increasing impact of digital communications on other fields may herald the emergence of cloud computing and the industrial internet as the new dominant industrial paradigm. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, patents, electrical instruments, instruments, information technology |
| JEL: | O32 O31 O12 |
| Date: | 2017–08–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:52&r=ipr |
| By: | Martin Kalthaus (FSU Jena) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a search strategy for photovoltaic patents which allows to distinguish the photovoltaic system into sub-trajectories. Identifying and analyzing sub-trajectories is of particular importance for understanding micro patterns of technological change. The proposed search strategy is modular and replicable. It performs similar to leading benchmark search strategies but allows to distinguish three cell sub-trajectories and two system components. Descriptive analysis reveals that inventive activity differs between sub-trajectories. The market dominating silicon wafer cell sub-trajectory shows hardly any patented inventive activity. Country comparison reveals that Asian countries focus on the emerging cell sub-trajectory. The USA focus on the established thin-film sub-trajectory and inventive activity in Germany focuses on module components. While the proposed search strategy allows for a fine-grained analysis of inventive activity in photovoltaics, the empirical assessment of sub- trajectories in general can increase understanding of technological change and can be used to implement policy interventions at a microtechnological level. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Sub-trajectory, Patent search, Photovoltaics |
| JEL: | O31 O34 Q42 |
| Date: | 2017–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2017-010&r=ipr |
| By: | Michael Fritsch (FSU Jena); Moritz Zoellner (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the stability of cooperative relationships between inventors and consequences for the characteristics and patent productivity of the respective regional innovation systems (RIS). The empirical analysis is for nine German regions over a period of 15 years. We find a rather high level of 'fluidity', i.e., entry and exit of actors, as well as instability of their relationships over time. The aggregate characteristics of the regional networks are, however, quite robust even with high levels of micro-level fluidity. There are both significantly positive and negative relationships between micro-level fluidity and the performance of the respective RIS. |
| Keywords: | Innovation networks, R&D cooperation, division of innovative labor, patents |
| JEL: | O3 R1 D2 D8 |
| Date: | 2017–08–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2017-009&r=ipr |