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on Intellectual Property Rights |
|
Issue of 2010‒03‒28
fourteen papers chosen by Roland Kirstein Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg |
| By: | Arai, Yasuhiro |
| Abstract: | We discuss the software patent should be granted or not. There exist two types of coping in the software market; reverse engineering and software duplication. Software patent can prevent both types of copies since a patent protects an idea. If the software is not protected by a patent, software producer cannot prevent reverse engineering. However, the producer can prevent the software duplication by a copyright. It is not clear the software patent is socially desirable when we consider these two types of coping. We obtain the following results. First, the number of copy users under the patent protection is greater than that under the copyright protection. Second, the government can increase social welfare by applying copyright protection when the new technology is sufficiently innovative. |
| Keywords: | Copyright Protection, Intellectual Property Right, Software |
| JEL: | D42 K39 L86 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:ccesdp:26&r=ipr |
| By: | Jinyoung Kim (Korea University); Sangjoon John Lee (Alfred University); Gerald Marschke (University at Albany-SUNY, NBER and IZA) |
| Abstract: | Using U.S. patent records in nanotechnoloy, we study the relationship between inventor mobility among firms and knowledge diffusion. We find evidence consistent with a story that, in one important nanotechnology subfield, when inventors move among firms they spread knowledge. In particular, we find that if we consider any two patents in the "Chemicals, misc." subclass, A and B, where A and B are assigned to different firms and where A is granted after B, patent A is more likely to cite patent B if the patent A firm employs an inventor who earlier worked for the patent B firm. |
| Keywords: | Nanotechnology, Patents; Innovations; Knowledge spillovers; |
| JEL: | J62 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iek:wpaper:1004&r=ipr |
| By: | Jinyoung Kim (Korea University); Sangjoon John Lee (Alfred University); Gerald Marschke (University at Albany and NBER) |
| Abstract: | Using U.S. patent records in nanotechnoloy, we study the impact of university research on industry innovations with the premise that knowledge is diffused from universities to industry via personnel with university research experience. Appearing on a patent assigned to a university is evidence that an inventor has been exposed to university research, either directly as a university researcher or through some from of collaboration with university researchers. Over the period 1985-97, we find a steady increase in industry's employment of inventors with university research experience. In the 1990s we find the productivity (in terms of patenting rates and patent quality) of inventors with university backgrounds begins to exceed the productivity of the inventors without such experience. We also find that the share of industry patents in nanotechnology that cite university-assigned patents almost doubles during the period and inventors with university experience cite mostly university patents not invented by them, implying that they are instrumental in transferring general knowledge created throughout the university community. |
| Keywords: | Nanotechnology, Patents; Innovations; Knowledge spillovers; University research |
| JEL: | J62 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iek:wpaper:1003&r=ipr |
| By: | Jinyoung Kim (Korea University); Sangjoon John Lee (Alfred University); Gerald Marschke (University at Albany-SUNY, NBER and IZA) |
| Abstract: | We use U.S. patent records to examine the role of research personnel as a pathway for the diffusion of ideas from university to industry. Appearing on a patent assigned to a university is evidence that an ineventor has been exposed to university research, either directly as a university researcher or through some form of collaboration with university researchers. Having an advanced degree is another indicator of an inventor's exposure to university research. We find a steady increase in industry's use of inventors with university research experience over the period 1985-97, economy wide and in the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries in particular. We interpret this as evidence of growth in the influence of university research on industrial innovation. Moreover, during this period we find that firms with large research operations in both industries, and young and highly capitalized firms in the pharmaceutical industry, are disproportionately active in the diffusion of ideas from the university sector. Finally, we find that the patents of firms that employ inventors with university research experience are more likely to cite university patents as prior art, suggesting that this experience better enables firms to tap academic research. |
| Keywords: | Patents; Innovation; Technology spillovers; University research |
| JEL: | J62 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iek:wpaper:1006&r=ipr |
| By: | Jerôme Danguy; Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie |
| Abstract: | For more than 40 years, governments and professional associations have acted, voted or lobbied against the implementation of the Community Patent (COMPAT). The econometric results and simulations presented in this paper suggest that, thanks to its attractiveness in terms of market size and a sound renewal fee structure, the COMPAT would drastically reduce the relative patenting costs for applicants while generating more income for the European Patent Office and most National Patent Offices. The loss of economic rents (€400 million would be lost by patent attorneys, translators and lawyers) and the drop of controlling power by national patent offices elucidate further the observed resistance to the Community Patent. |
| Keywords: | Patent systems, community patent, patenting cost, renewal fees, maintenance rate. |
| JEL: | O34 O38 P14 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2010_012&r=ipr |
| By: | Jinyoung Kim (Korea University) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a model for understanding a firm's decisions regarding the maintenance (renewal) and patenting of sequential innovations and studies how these decisions are affected by the model's parameters, including maintenance fees and filing fees. The model demonstrates that the two prices exert negative effects on renewal and patenting, respectively (i.e. adverse own price effects). The model also offers a discriminating testable hypothesis, predicted on the cross-price effects, to identify complementarity or substitutability across sequential innovations. Our regression results show that the probability of patent renewal and maintenance fees are correlated negatively and that the patent propensity and application fees are correlated negatively. We also demonstrate that higher application fees are associated with lower probability of patent renewal, which corroborates the case of complementarity in sequential innovations. |
| Keywords: | Renewal, Patenting, Sequential innovations, Patent portfolio, Patent maintenance fees, Application filing fees |
| JEL: | J63 O32 O34 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iek:wpaper:1005&r=ipr |
| By: | Chu, Angus C. |
| Abstract: | To analyze the welfare gain from allowing for differentiated patent protection across sectors, this study develops a two-sector quality-ladder growth model in which patent breadth is a policy variable and derives the optimal patent breadth under two policy regimes. We show that (i) the optimal uniform patent breadth is a weighted average of the optimal sector-specific patent breadth, and (ii) the optimal sector-specific patent breadth is larger in the sector that has a larger market size and more technological opportunities. To derive the optimal policy, we allow for an arbitrary path of patent breadth and derive the optimal path by solving a Stackelberg differential game. We find that the optimal path of patent breadth under each regime is stationary, time-consistent and subgame perfect. Finally, we perform a numerical investigation and find that even a moderate degree of asymmetry across sectors can generate a significant welfare cost of uniform patent protection. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; R&D; uniform patent protection; time-consistent patent policy |
| JEL: | O34 O31 O40 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21401&r=ipr |
| By: | Pere Arqué Castells (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between venture capital (VC) and innovation using a self-collected dataset containing 119 innovative, VC-funded firms and 164,486 controls that operate in Spain. Probit model estimates indicate that firms that have applied for at least one patent are significantly more likely to obtain VC investments. However, when implementing a matching approach to correct for selectivity, no evidence is found of a significant impact of VC on firms’ patenting activity. Rather, evidence is found of a positive effect of VC on the sales growth of funded firms. These results suggest that, rather than having an impact on innovation activities, venture capitalists (VCs) focus on the commercialization of existing products. A finer breakdown by ownership and investment stage also provides evidence that private VCs and early stage investments are notably more effective at stimulating sales than public VCs and late stage investments respectively. |
| Keywords: | Venture capital, innovation, patents, matching estimator |
| JEL: | G24 O32 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2010/3/doc2010-12&r=ipr |
| By: | Junichi Nishimura; Hiroyuki Okamuro |
| Abstract: | Industrial clusters have attracted increasing attention as important locations of innovation. Therefore, several countries have started promotion policies for industrial clusters. However, there are few empirical studies on cluster policies. This paper examines the effects of the “Industrial Cluster Project” (ICP) in Japan on the R&D productivity of participants, using a unique dataset of 229 small firms, and discusses the conditions necessary for the effective organization of cluster policies. Different from former policy approaches, the ICP aims at building collaborative networks between universities and industries and supports the autonomous development of existing regional industries without direct intervention in the clustering process. Thus far, the ICP is similar to indirect support systems adopted by successful European clusters. Our estimation results suggest that participation in the cluster project alone does not affect R&D productivity. Moreover, research collaboration with a partner in the same cluster region decreases R&D productivity both in terms of the quantity and quality of patents. Therefore, in order to improve the R&D efficiency of local firms, it is also important to construct wide-range collaborative networks within and beyond the clusters, although most clusters focus on the network at a narrowly defined local level. However, cluster participants apply for more patents than others without reducing patent quality when they collaborate with national universities in the same cluster region. |
| Keywords: | Industrial cluster; University-industry partnership; Small and medium enterprise; R&D; Patent |
| JEL: | O23 O32 O38 R38 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:10-06&r=ipr |
| By: | MARINUCCI, Marco (UniversitŽ catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); VERGOTE, Wouter (FacultŽs universitaires Saint-Louis, CEREC, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium and UniversitŽ catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | In a setting of R&D co-opetition we study, by using an all-pay auction approach, how collaboration affects strategic decisions during a patent contest, and how the latter influences the possible collaboration network structures the firms can hope to form. The all pay auction approach allows us to 1) endogenize both network formation and R&D intensities and 2) take heterogeneous and private valuations for patents into account. We find that, different from previous literature, the complete network is not always the only pairwise stable network, even and especially if the benefits from cooperating are important. Interestingly, the other possible stable networks all have the realistic property that some firms decide not to participate in the contest. Thus, weak cooperation through network formation can serve as a barrier to entry on the market for innovation. We further show that there need not be any network that survives a well known refinement of pairwise stability, strong stability, which imposes networks to be immune to coalitional deviations. |
| Keywords: | patent game, networks, R&D cooperation, all-pay auction |
| JEL: | L14 L24 O32 |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2009068&r=ipr |
| By: | Annamaria Conti; Patrick Gaulé |
| Abstract: | Europe is perceived to be lagging behind the US in converting its academic results into economic outcomes. Using new survey data on European and US Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), we find that differences in academic research, TTO staff and experience explain to a great extent the gap between the US and Europe in terms of the number of license agreements concluded. However, these factors account for only part of the difference in license income. We relate the difference in licensing income to differences in the organization and staffing of TTOs. Our analysis reveals that US TTOs do not attach more importance to generating revenue as an objective than their European counterparts. However, they employ more staff with experience in industry which explains some of the remaining differential in license income performance. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:10-04&r=ipr |
| By: | Markus Perkmann; Kathryn Walsh |
| Abstract: | We analyze the impact of university-industry relationships on public research. Our inductive study of university-industry collaboration in engineering suggests that basic projects are more likely to yield academically valuable knowledge than applied projects. However, applied projects show higher degrees of partner interdependence and therefore enable exploratory learning by academics, leading to new ideas and projects. This result holds especially for research-oriented academics working in the ‘sciences of the artificial’ and engaging in multiple relationships with industry. Our learning-centred interpretation qualifies the notion of entrepreneurial science as a driver of applied university-industry collaboration. We conclude with implications for science and technology policy. |
| Keywords: | University industry relations; Collaborative research; Contract research; Academic consulting; Science technology links; Engineering |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:10-03&r=ipr |
| By: | Pablo D'Este; Surya Mahdi; Andy Neely |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at improving our understanding of the attributes of academic researchers that influence the capacity to identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. We investigate a number of factors highlighted in the literature as influencing the entrepreneurial activities undertaken by academics. Our results show that identification and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities are shaped by different factors. While identification of commercial opportunities is driven by prior entrepreneurial experience and the excellence of the academic work, exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities is driven by the extent of previous collaboration with industry partners, cognitive integration and prior entrepreneurial experience. |
| Keywords: | Academic entrepreneurship; Opportunity identification; Opportunity exploitation; Spin-offs; Patenting; University-business collaboration |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:10-05&r=ipr |
| By: | Margit Osterloh; Bruno S. Frey |
| Abstract: | Academic rankings today are the backbone of research governance, which seem to fit the aims of "new public management" on the one side and the idea of the "republic of science" on the other side. Nevertheless rankings recently came under scrutiny. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of academic rankings, in particular their unintended negative consequences on the research process. To counterbalance these negative consequences we suggest (a) rigorous selection and socialization, and (b) downplaying the impact of rankings in order to reconcile academic self-governance with accountability to the public. |
| Keywords: | peer reviews; rankings; research governance; psychological economics; new public management; economics of science; control theory |
| JEL: | H52 H83 I23 J44 L38 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2010-04&r=ipr |