Intellectual property and fourth industrial revolution technologies: how the patent system is shaping the future in the data-driven economy

Armin Mertens () and Marc Scheufen ()
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Armin Mertens: German Economic Institute (IW)
Marc Scheufen: German Economic Institute (IW)

European Journal of Law and Economics, 2024, vol. 57, issue 1, No 11, 275-310

Abstract: Abstract Using the classification system from the European Patent Office (EPO), we identify almost 600,000 patent applications for fourth industrial revolution technologies from 1986 to 2015. We contribute to the economic literature by seeking to answer two research questions: (1) What is the effect of legal breath (and other indicators) on the quality of innovations in the fourth industrial revolution, (2) How does the IP culture (utilitarism vs. natural law) explain these differences? We find that the legal breadth of a patent positively affects the quality of innovations in the fourth industrial revolution. Interestingly, this impact of legal breadth may be driven by historical path dependencies and ways in which the two philosophical schools (utilitarism vs. natural law) have shaped the patent system in Anglo-Saxon countries versus continental Europe.

Keywords: Legal breadth; Patent scope; IP culture; Forward citations; Fourth industrial revolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K11 O23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10657-023-09789-2

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