THE ROLE OF FEES IN PATENT SYSTEMS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

This paper reviews the economic literature on the role of fees in patent systems. Two main research questions are usually addressed: the impact of patent fees on the behavior of applicants and the question of optimal fees. Studies in the former group confirm that a range of fees affect the behavior of applicants and suggest that a patent is an inelastic good. Studies in the latter group provide grounds for both low and high application (or pre‐grant) fees and renewal (or post‐grant) fees, depending on the structural context and policy objectives. The paper also presents new stylized facts on patent fees of 30 patent offices worldwide. It is shown that application fees are generally lower than renewal fees, and renewal fees increase more than proportionally with patent age.     

THE ROLE OF PATENTS IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE

During the last few decades, the number of patents in information and communication technologies has increased considerably. An increasing number of patents and the associated fragmentation of IP rights have generated a series of potentially problematic consequences. Patent thickets, royalty stacking, the emergence of patent assertion entities, increased patent litigation – particularly around standard essential patents – and the difficulties with defining fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory licensing terms are some of the most debated issues in the literature that we review in this paper. We devote a specific section of our survey to patent quality, currently one of the most debated issues surrounding the patent system. In our analysis, we mix theoretical and empirical arguments with a more policy‐oriented reasoning. This allows us to better position the different issues in the relevant political and economic context.     

The coincidence of patent thickets—A comparative analysis

The growth of patent thickets—technology fields that are characterized by a large overlap of rights between different right holders—poses a challenge for innovators. Patent thickets are argued to create strong friction in innovation due to a pronounced potential for holdup. So far, we do not know whether patent thickets coincide in all patent systems or if differences exist that policy makers and managers must take into account when aiming to disentangle and to navigate patent thickets, respectively. To address this gap, we measure patent density of technology fields in the patent systems of the United States, the German patent system governed by the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), and the European patent system governed by the European Patent Office (EPO). Our comparisons reveal both interesting differences and similarities between the analyzed patent systems. Although the United States and the EPO patent system show similar relative patent density patterns across technology fields, the German patent system strongly differs from the previous two. This implies that such deviations need to be taken into account by policy makers when considering regulatory measures as well as by companies in their intellectual property strategy.     

Dynamics between patent latent variables and patent price

This paper focuses on studying the relationship between patent latent variables and patent price. From the existing literature, seven patent latent variables, namely age, generality, originality, foreign filings, technology field, forward citations, and backward citations were identified as having an influence on patent value. We used Ocean Tomo's patent auction price data in this study. We transformed the price and the predictor variables (excluding the dummy variables) to its logarithmic value. The OLS estimates revealed that forward citations and foreign filings were positively correlated to price. Both the variables jointly explained 14.79% of the variance in patent pricing. We did not find sufficient evidence to come up with any definite conclusions on the relationship between price and the variables such as age, technology field, generality, backward citations and originality. The Heckman two-stage sample selection model was used to test for selection bias.     

企业专利质量提升的关键问题研究

对于中国整体专利申请量和授权量的飙升,国内外褒贬不一。在庞大的专利数量中,企业的贡献最大。我国2012年授权的有效发明专利中企业所占比重已达57．9％,但企业创新力与国外相比存在较大的差距。本文从专利的产品特性角度对提升我国企业专利质量水平展开研究,提出了必须提升对专利质量的认知水平、必须健全专利质量体系和必须以市场需求为导向提升专利质量水平的对策建议。     

Development of patent roadmap based on technology roadmap by analyzing patterns of patent development

Recently, patent forecasting and planning has been emphasized as an essential process in the strategic management of technology because well-planned patents will make larger profits and occupy dominant positions first. Thus, this paper aims to suggest the concept and process of a patent roadmap based on a technology roadmap and patterns of patent development. For this, first, ontology of technology is generated to structure the characteristics of technology based on the existing technology roadmap and then patents are collected from a patent database. Second, collected patents are grouped by similarities based on vectors of extracted keywords and grouping results are classified by TEMPEST. In this step, keywords extracted from the previous phase are matched with TEMPEST individually and patent groups are categorized in accordance with high relevance between representative keywords in patent groups and core keywords in each category of TEMPEST. Third, the patterns of patent development are identified for each patent group and categorized by two types – structural and temporal patterns. Consequently, extracted patterns serve as evidence of patent planning, and the patent roadmap is drawn with the technology layer composed of the technology roadmap and the patent layer that each group is mapped on. The proposed approach is illustrated by the case of the transparent AMOLED display. The patent roadmap will enable managers to establish patenting strategies in order to achieve a valuable core patent that has the potential to become a business model, yielding good returns in the long term.     

PATENT ENFORCEMENT: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Without the confidence that patent rights can be enforced quickly and efficiently, when needed, the patent system will not stimulate innovation. For this reason, governments, academics, international institutions and the private sector have poured significant resources into gathering and analysing statistics on patent enforcement over the last two decades. This paper reviews these studies and finds that while infringement is relatively common, much enforcement occurs informally and less than 1–2% of patents incur litigation. New strategic uses of the enforcement system, especially by nonpracticing entities, are the major emerging enforcement issue, especially in the United States. While the old problem of litigation costs attracts the lion's share of empirical attention, it has produced remarkably few solutions to date.     

Patent indicators for macroeconomic growth—the value of patents estimated by export volume

This paper examines the linkage between patenting and export performance for selected countries at the level of technology fields. Some empirical studies show considerable correlation between the patenting behavior of countries and their economic success in international markets. Adding to the existing literature, the aim of this analysis is to assess whether the indicators that are supposed to reflect patent value—such as patent citations or family size—have any explanatory power in estimating the export value of countries by technology fields.     

OPEN KNOWLEDGE DISCLOSURE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE AND ECONOMIC MOTIVATIONS

Abstract.  This paper reviews current literature on open knowledge disclosure strategies used by firms. It is usually acknowledged that for an innovative firm that does not benefit from a natural protection (such as lead time advance) the best strategy is to keep an innovation secret as long as possible or to protect it through an exclusive patent. However, in apparent contrast to this traditional view, many studies suggest that firms often disclose important parts of their knowledge through scientific publications, conferences, the Internet, etc. This paper aims to provide an overview first of the evidence supporting the existence of open knowledge disclosure and second of the economic motivations that encourage rational, profit seeking firms to adopt these behaviours.     

Market share and firms’ patent exploitation

As the current patent policy encourages the early stage of innovation but imposes hardly any regulations on how patent holders use their patents, an understanding of how firms use their patents is largely lacking. In this study, we seek to determine whether differences exist in firms’ strategies for utilizing patents depending on their market share. Using a discrete choice model, the repeated multinomial logit model, we analyzed Korean firms’ choices of patent use. Market share is found to positively influence three patent exploitation modes: own use, simultaneous exploitation of own use and licensing, and blocking. And the blocking use of patents is the most significant mode that is positively associated with market share. Our results provide a basis for understanding the effects of patent policy from the industrial perspective, such as industrial organization or competition policy. We discussed the implications for various actors related to patent systems, including researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners.     

我国专利权行政保护机制探讨

在竞争不断加剧的国际背景下,专利权的保护水平已经成为了衡量国家综合国力的重要指标之一。专利权的司法和行政双轨制保护是我国知识产权制度的一大特色。文章通过国内外专利权行政保护的比较研究指出,在较长一段时期内,中国保持较强的专利权行政保护符合我国现阶段社会发展的需要。借鉴美国、德国及其他发达国家和地区有关专利权行政保护成功经验,改善我国专利权行政保护机制以维护国家利益和本土专利权主体的合法权益。     

专利无效宣告的市场反应研究

既有文献忽视了作为行政保护手段的专利无效宣告。通过专利无效宣告事件识别无效宣告方和专利被无效宣告方,采用事件研究法探讨投资者对专利无效宣告的市场反应。基于2014—2020年无效宣告数据的经验证据表明：投资者对发起专利无效宣告公司有显著正向市场反应,而对专利被无效宣告公司有显著负向市场反应;无效宣告的专利质量越高,投资者的市场反应越大,说明专利质量强化了投资者对专利无效宣告双方公司的市场反应;投资者对专利无效宣告双方公司的市场反应主要体现在专利数量较多组、行业收入占比较高组以及高科技公司组中,说明行业专利竞赛策略、势态以及激烈程度影响投资者对专利无效宣告公司的市场反应。研究有助于丰富专利竞赛和市场反应方面的文献,同时对于加强专利竞赛行为的监管具有借鉴意义。     

浅谈专利文献的竞争情报价值——诺基亚公司在中国的专利申请分析报告

文中简要介绍了专利信息和专利分析方法,再以诺基亚公司为例,通过使用中华人民共和国国家知识产权局提供的专利数据库,对诺基亚公司在中国申请的专利进行分析,得出专利情报,从而揭示专利信息的竞争情报价值。     

我国城市专利综合实力影响因素分析

专利是衡量城市科技创新能力的主要指标。本文运用主成分分析法,对我国4个直辖市和15个副省级城市的专利综合实力做出评分、排序和分级,揭示各城市间专利综合实力的差异。然后运用多元线性回归分析法,对19个城市的专利综合实力做回归分析,得出影响城市专利综合实力的主要因素,包括人均科技支出、固定资产投资总额、科技人员占从业人员的比例、每百人公共图书馆藏书和人均电信业务总量。     

微软公司在华专利布局研究

跨国公司是国外在华申请专利的主体,跨国公司申请的专利质量较高,并且大部分为发明专利。随着我国专利事业的飞速发展,专利已经成为占领市场的重要手段和策略。本文通过对微软公司在华的专利布局情况进行分析,对申请量、授权量、法律状态、集中领域等问题进行研究,总结跨国公司在华专利战略的特点,并对我国企业提出发展建议。     

日本企业的专利战略对湖南省企业的启示

日本企业实施专利战略的成功经验是把研究开发、专利战略、生产经营当成一个不可分割的整体,文章介绍了湖南省企业的专利实施战略情况,提出了湖南省企业利用专利战略进行技术创新的思路。     

Assessing the R&D Management of a Firm in Terms of Speed and Science Linkage: Evidence from the US Patents

We evaluate statistically how the R&D management of a firm affects its research quality. Controlling for technology areas, a firm having short citation lag relative to the prior patent literature has a significantly high patent quality in terms of patent citation and the number of claims per patent, suggesting that the speed of R&D mattes. Such an effect is more significant in IT than in biotechnology & pharmaceuticals. A firm having high citations to the science literature has also a high patent quality, indicating the importance of the capability to use scientific knowledge. Such an effect is significant both in biotechnology & pharmaceuticals and in IT.     

Commercialization of university inventions: Individual and institutional factors affecting licensing of university patents

This paper conducts a unique study using the university patent as the unit of analysis to determine how individual and institutional factors affect the likelihood that a patent will be licensed. Using a 2010 national survey of academic scientists in the United States in which respondents were asked specific questions about 2006 patents for which they were listed as inventors, we find that the likelihood of licensing is significantly determined by individual factors including inventors׳ attitude towards commercialization of research, additional research conducted during patent review, and collaboration with industry scientists on the underlying research. Among institutional factors, university Technology Transfer Office׳s cost-saving measures positively influence licensing, but industry funding and TTO service effectiveness do not. We also identify two types of inventions: opportunity-based inventions are discoveries that are not foreseen patentable at the outset of projects; intention-based inventions occur on research projects that anticipate commercial outcomes before the start of research. Findings demonstrate that different individual and institutional factors contribute to licensing of these two different inventions. This study provides new insights into the process of commercialization of university inventions.     

TOWARDS DESIGNING AN IDEAL PATENT SYSTEM

An ideal patent system balances the returns to inventors and the dissemination of new technologies. This article examines legal policy instruments - encompassing duration, scope and strength of patent protection, as well as invention disclosure and novelty requirements - and R&D subsidies that help sustain growth in GDP. The paper studies the issues associated with designing an effective patent system, surveys the industrial property literature and delineates the focal points of debate among researchers and policy-makers.     

MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS IN FAMILY FIRMS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Family firms play a significant role in the global economy. Although family firm literature has devoted much time and effort to investigating topics concerning corporate governance, leadership, ownership and succession, accounting issues have received relatively scant attention. In this paper, we assemble and critically review extant literature on the choice of management controls. This is an essential topic for firms as management control systems (MCS) are used to make sure subordinates behave in function of the goals of the firm. Family firms, however, have distinct features, such as differences in governance structures and goals, which can have a significant impact on whether and how MCS are used. We conclude this review paper by providing avenues for future research that can advance our understanding of both the determinants and the outcomes of the choice of MCS.