Can patent protection and product market competition complement each other in enhancing incentives to innovate? In this … product market competition interact with the strength of patent rights. We provide empirical evidence of innovation responding … positively to the product market reform in industries of countries where patent rights are strong, not where these are weak. The …

We analyze the impact of accession to the regional patent system established by the European Patent Convention (EPC) on … applicants at the national patent offices and the European Patent Office (EPO). Our findings suggest a strong change in patent … filing behavior among foreigners seeking patent protection in the accession states, substituting EPO patents for domestic …

We report the results of the first comparative study of the determinants and effects of patent oppositions in Europe … thirty times higher than the rate of re-examination at the USPTO. Moreover, opposition leads to a revocation of the patent in … about 41 percent of the cases, and to a restriction of the patent right in another 30 percent of the cases. Re …

This paper examines the distribution of the values of patent rights in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany during … alternative ages and the renewal fee schedules to produce estimates of the distribution (and the total) value of patent rights in … changes over the period. The empirical results of particular interest concern: the total value of patent rights and the …

France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, in conjunction with a model of patent holders' renewal decisions, to estimate the … innovation process, the model allows agents to be uncertain about the sequence of returns that will be earned if the patent is … spans,and calculations of both; the annual returns earned from holding the patents still in force (or the patent stocks) in …