Discrimination in the patent system: Evidence from standard-essential patents

Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Emilio Raiteri and Rudi Bekkers
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Rudi Bekkers: Eindhoven University of Technology

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

Abstract: This paper tests for traces of discrimination against foreigners in the patent system. It focuses on patent applications filed in China, and for which the owner has made a public disclosure that they are or may become essential to the implementation of a technical standard. Such potentially standard-essential patents are of particularly high importance to their owner. We use the timing of disclosure to a leading standard-setting organization as a source of econometric identification and carry out extensive tests to ensure the exogeneity of timing. We find that foreign patent applications are significantly less likely to be granted by the Chinese patent office if their owners disclose them to be potentially essential to a standard before the substantive examination starts. Furthermore, the patent office spends, on average, one more year on the examination of such patents, and the scope of the patents are also more extensively reduced. Our findings contribute to the emerging discussion on technology protectionism.

Keywords: discrimination; indigenous innovation; national treatment principle; standard-essential patent; technology protectionism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F53 F68 K39 L52 L63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2023-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-law and nep-tid
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https://cdm-repec.epfl.ch/iip-wpaper/WP21.pdf (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: Discrimination in the Patent System: Evidence from Standard-Essential Patents (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iip:wpaper:21

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