Post-Issue Patent "Quality Control": A Comparative Study of US Patent Re-examinations and European Patent Oppositions

Stuart Graham, Bronwyn Hall, Dietmar Harhoff () and David C. Mowery
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David C. Mowery: University of California, Berkeley & NBER

Industrial Organization from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: We report the results of the first comparative study of the determinants and effects of patent oppositions in Europe and of re- examinations on corresponding patents issued in the United States. The analysis is based on a dataset consisting of matched EPO and US patents. Our analysis focuses on two broad technology categories - biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors and computer software. Within these fields, we collect data on all EPO patents for which oppositions were filed at the EPO. We also construct a random sample of EPO patents with no opposition in these technologies. We match these EPO patents with the “equivalent” US patents covering the same invention in the United States. Using the matched sample of USPTO and EPO patents, we compare the determinants of opposition and of reexamination. Our results indicate that valuable patents are more likely to be challenged in both jurisdictions. But the rate of opposition at the EPO is more than thirty times higher than the rate of reexamination at the USPTO.

JEL-codes: K41 L00 L20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2003-03-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ind and nep-law
Note: 46 pages, Acrobat .pdf
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (40)

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https://econwpa.ub.uni-muenchen.de/econ-wp/io/papers/0303/0303009.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Post-Issue Patent “Quality Control:” A Comparative Study of US Patent Re-examinations and European Patent Oppositions (2002)
Working Paper: Post-Issue Patent "Quality Control": A Comparative Study of US Patent Re-Examinations and European Patent Oppositions (2002)
Working Paper: Post-Issue Patent “Quality Control:” A Comparative Study of US Patent Re-examinations and European Patent Oppositions (2002)
Working Paper: Post-Issue Patent "Quality Control": A Comparative Study of US Patent Re-examinations and European Patent Oppositions (2002)
Working Paper: Post-Issue Patent "Quality Control": A Comparative Study of US Patent Re-examinations and European Patent Oppositions (2002)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0303009

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