patent offices worldwide are facing a "patent explosion" (Harhoff et al., 2007). The role of Intellectual Property (IP … regarding IP intermediaries. Finally, article three concentrates on the question how external patent attorneys and their level … of experience influence patent filing strategies. By investigating the above questions in the respective studies my …

. The second chapter provides a theory of offshoring under imitation risk that explains optimal dynamic adjustments of firms … intellectual property rights and of offshoring costs on the rate of innovation and on the offshoring intensity. In chapter 4 I …' successful patent applications. The last chapter describes sector-level input-output relationships in eleven European economies …