How to Count Patents and Value Intellectual Property: Uses of Patent Renewal and Application Data

Jean Lanjouw, Ariel Pakes and Jonathan Putnam

No 5741, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Patent counts are very imperfect measures of innovative output. This paper discusses how additional data-the number of years a patent is renewed and the number of countries in which protection for the same invention is sought - can be used to improve on counts in studies which require a measure of the extent of innovation. A simple renewal based weighting scheme is proposed which may remove half of the noise in patent counts as a measure of innovative output. The paper also illustrates how these data can be used to estimate the value of the proprietary rights created by the patent laws. The parameters estimated in this analysis can be used to answer a series of questions related to the value of patents. We illustrate with estimates of how the value of patent protection would vary under alternative legal rules and renewal fees, and with estimates of the international flows of returns from the patent system. Recent progress in the development of databases has increased the potential for this type of analysis.

JEL-codes: C81 L10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996-09
Note: PR
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (55)

Published as The Journal of Industrial Economics, Vol. XLVI, no. 4 (1998): 405-433.

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Journal Article: How to Count Patents and Value Intellectual Property: The Uses of Patent Renewal and Application Data (1998)
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