In this paper, we offer a novel explanation to the surge in patenting bserved during the last years. With low patentability standards at PTOs (Patent and Trademark Offices awarding so-called bad patents), not only “false innovators” have the chance of being granted patents but also, and more...

Novelty value is one of the legal requirements for a patentable innovation but it has been given relatively little attention in the literature. It is often abstracted away by assuming that any innovation is patentable. We study the optimal novelty requirement in a model where ideas are scarce,...

O'donoghue and Zweimüller (2004, J. of Econ. Growth), a seminal work, showed that broadening leading breadth in patent protection can stimulate innovation. However, the empirical literature has consistently found skeptical results on the positive effect. To fill the gap, we build another...