Financial Patenting in Europe

Bronwyn Hall, Grid Thoma () and Salvatore Torrisi ()

No 14714, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We take a first look at financial patents at the European Patent Office (EPO). As is the case at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the number of financial patents in Europe has increased significantly in parallel with significant changes in payment and financial systems. Scholars have argued that financial patents, like other business methods patents, have low value and are owned for strategic reasons rather than for protecting real inventions. We find that established firms in non-financial sectors with diversified patent portfolios own a large share of financial patents at the EPO. However, new specialized technology providers in the financial area also hold a number of such patents. Decisions on the financial patent applications take longer and they are more likely to be refused by the patent office, suggesting greater uncertainty over validity than for other patents. They are also more likely to be opposed, which is consistent with the fact that their other economic value indicators are higher.

JEL-codes: G20 L86 O31 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-ino, nep-ipr and nep-pr~
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Published as Hall, B. H., Thoma, G. and Torrisi, S. (2009), Financial patenting in Europe. European Management Review, 6: 45–63. doi: 10.1057/emr.2009.3

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Working Paper: Financial Patenting in Europe (2010)
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