A new approach to measuring invention commercialization: An application to the SBIR program

Carlo Bottai, Gaétan de Rassenfosse and Emilio Raiteri
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Carlo Bottai: University of Milano–Bicocca
Gaétan de Rassenfosse: Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne
Emilio Raiteri: Eindhoven University of Technology

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

Abstract: Measuring the commercialization of patented inventions remains a key challenge in innovation studies. This paper introduces a novel, web-based method for tracking the commercialization of patented inventions. The method leverages targeted web searches to identify online traces of the commercialization of patented products, offering a scalable alternative to surveys and case studies. We apply this method to patents arising from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research program, linking 3,070 patents to procurement contracts and assessing their commercialization outcomes. The results indicate that 21.5% of these patents show signs of commercialization, with variations across R&D stages and contract phases. The method provides a systematic way to identify market adoption of patented technologies and can be extended to other contexts where identifying commercialized patents is relevant.

Keywords: government-funded research; invention commercialization; patents; policy evaluation; web-based evidence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C55 H81 L26 O31 O34 O38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 87 pages
Date: 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent, nep-ipr, nep-sbm and nep-tid
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iip:wpaper:28

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