A common assumption in innovation policy circles is that creative and inventive firms will help to sustain employment and wages in high wage countries. The view is that firms in high cost production locations that do not innovate are faced with loss of market share from import competition, so...

This paper provides evidence from a newly constructed database of UK firms about the extent of their intellectual property acquisition activities over five years. We focus on service sector firms, which have not previously been studied, with comparisons for firms in manufacturing and other...

This paper uses a new data set of the trade mark activity of UK manufacturing and service sector firms (1996-2000) to investigate the market value of trade marks. Data on both trade (and service) marks sought via the UK Patent Office (UKTM) and the European Community Office for Harmonisation of...

Economists view intellectual property rights (IPRs) as policy tools for encouraging innovation, but they recognize that they can also inhibit competition. There are many types of IPRs and of institutions concerned with their administration. We begin by outlining how these complex and varied...