Patent renewal studies reveal a highly rightward-skewed distribution of patent values. Our approach elicits valuations approximating those of the patented invention. This paper focuses on the full-term patents of the application year 1977 held by West German and U.S. residents. The tail of...

Feed-in tariffs under the Renewable Energy Sources Act, the so-called Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG), have triggered a massive expansion of electricity from renewable energy sources in Germany over the last decade. The increase in non-competitive renewable power generation though went hand in...

Through a survey, economic value estimates were obtained on 962 inventions made in the United States and Germany and on which German patent renewal fees were paid to full-term expiration in 1995. A search of subsequent U.S. and German patents yielded a count of citations to those patents....

We explore the tail of patented invention value distributions by using value estimates obtained directly from patent holders. The paper focuses on those full-term German patents of the application year 1977 which were held by West German and U.S. residents. The most valuable patents in our data...

We analyze the impact of the probabilistic nature of patents on the functioning of Germany’s bifurcated patent litigation system where infringement and validity of a patent are decided independently by different courts. We show that bifurcation creates situations in which a patent is held...

Research and innovation are extremely important for Germany. New insights are generated by research, and new ways of creating value are opened up by technical, organisational, and other innovations. Production, value-creation and employment tend to increase much more in companies which are...