This paper investigates characteristics of patents involved in infringement lawsuits in weak intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes. Weak IPR regimes usually feature weak patent enforcement, such as relatively low level of compensation to infringement loss or damage awards being capped by an...

Patent trolls appropriate profits from innovation solely by enforcing patents against infringers. They are often characterized as relying on low-quality patents, an assessment that, if correct, would imply that eradicating such patents would effectively terminate the troll business. In this...

The paper studies the patent productivity of scientists over their life cycle. The incentives for patenting and for publishing are compared and how they shape life cycle productivity. In most empirical studies, publication productivity decreases at the end of the scientific career. In contrast,...

This paper investigates the role of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection and Environmental Policies (EPs) on clean (renewable) and dirty (fossil-based) technology diffusion from top-innovators. IPR protection and EPs are extensively debated policy tools, as IPR protection addresses...

In the 1990s, patenting schemes changed in many respects: upcoming new technologies accelerated the shift from price competition towards competition based on technical inventions, a worldwide surge in patenting took place, and the 'patent thicket' arose as a consequence of strategic patenting....

Technology leaders protecting a technological headstart with a patent are provided with a powerful legal measure to restrict market entry. We analyze the impact of knowledge spillover on the decision to patent and the effect of varying patent breadth on the threat of market entry. An empirical...

This paper provides novel empirical evidence that patents enable knowledge disclosure. The analysis exploits the Invention Secrecy Act, which grants the U.S. Commissioner for Patents the right to prevent disclosure of new inventions that represent a threat to national security. Using a two-level...

3D printing is a technology that has the potential to revolutionise manufacturing as we know it. While 3D printing is becoming mainstream, few consumers of printing services have the capacity to undertake their own printing. Around the technology, a service industry is burgeoning, as consumers...

Can firms use the U.S. patent system to communicate with the financial market? This study uses variation in local patent information availability to identify local changes in trading volume in reaction to the release of a patent. The variation comes from changes in the geographic location of...

The 5G mobile telecommunications standard is focusing increased attention on licensing of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). SEP holders and technology implementers commit to negotiate license agreements on terms that are Fair, Reasonable, and Non-discriminatory (FRAND). Standard Setting...