An Empirical Look at Software Patents

James Bessen and Robert Hunt

Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 2007, vol. 16, issue 1, 157-189

Abstract: Software patents have grown rapidly in number and now comprise 15% of all patents. They are acquired primarily by large manufacturing firms in industries known for strategic patenting; only 5% belong to software publishers. The very large increase in software patent propensity over time is not adequately explained by changes in R&D investments, employment of computer programmers, or productivity growth. The residual increase in software patent propensity is consistent with a sizeable increase in the cost effectiveness of software patents during the 1990s, perhaps arising from changes in the application of patent law to computer software.

Date: 2007
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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9134.2007.00136.x

Related works:
Working Paper: An Empirical Look at Software Patents (2004)
Working Paper: An empirical look at software patents (2004)
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