| By: |
Markus Nagler;
Stefan Sorg |
| Abstract: |
We study the causal impact of invalidating marginally valid patents during
post-grant opposition at the European Patent Office on affected inventors’
subsequent patenting. We exploit exogenous variation in invalidation by
leveraging the participation of a patent’s original examiner in the opposition
division as an instrument. We find a disciplinary effect of invalidation:
Affected inventors file 20% fewer patent applications in the decade after the
decision. This effect is entirely driven by a reduction in low-quality
filings, i.e., filings that examiners associate with prior art that threatens
the application’s novelty or inventive step. We do not observe shifts into
national patenting. |
| Keywords: |
inventors, marginal patents, patent invalidation, patent opposition, post-grant review, EPO, innovation |
| JEL: |
O31 O34 |
| Date: |
2019 |
| URL: |
https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7599 |