model provides an argument that shorter product cycles can induce firms to file more patent applications. The firms may be … trapped in a prisoners' dilemma where all firms would jointly prefer to patent less and to not have a patent thicket. If firms … successful, this may create a patent thicket. The transition into a situation where firms start patenting many ideas instead of …

innovative performance also depends on the size of a firm's patent portfolio, which suggests an important strategic role for …

In recent years, firms have increasingly contributed to and been confronted with a patent landscape characterized by … numerous but marginal inventions, overlapping claims and patent fences. Literature suggests that both the fragmentation of … ownership and the threat of a firm's patent applications being blocked by competitors' patents lead to increased patenting and …

landscapes have a higher probability of in-licensing. For firms with small patent portfolios we also find a positive association … appear to depend on the size of a firm’s patent portfolio. These results suggest that the effects of fragmentation of … upstream IP rights are not uniform, and instead vary according to the characteristics of the downstream firm. -- patent …