Is the patent system a level playing field? The effect of patent attorney firms

Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Paul Jensen, T'Mir Julius, Alfons Palangkaraya and Elizabeth Webster ()
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T'Mir Julius: University of Melbourne

Working Papers from Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy

Abstract: The patent system underpins the business model of some of the fastest-growing companies. Used appropriately, it should support frontier technologies and nurture new firms. Used perniciously, it can stifle innovation and protect established technological behemoths. We analyse patent examination decisions at the American, European, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese patent offices and find evidence that patent attorney firms have a surprisingly large role in the patent system. Patent attorney firm quality is most important, vis-Ã -vis invention quality, in less codified and more rapidly changing technology areas such as software and ICT. Moreover, patent attorney firm quality matters more when invention quality is low. Finally, there is a significant inter-patent office variation, with a greater patent attorney firm quality effect at the USPTO.

Keywords: appropriation; innovation; patent attorney firm; patent system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K20 L43 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2021-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-ict, nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-law, nep-sbm and nep-tid
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Related works:
Journal Article: Is the Patent System an Even Playing Field? The Effect of Patent Attorney Firms (2023)
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