the expansion of the USPTO Patent Library system after 1975. Before the Internet, patent libraries gave inventors access … to patent documents. We find that after patent library opening, local patenting increases by 17% relative to control …

This article explores the propensity to patent in the light of the disclosure effect. Unlike earlier approaches … facilitating inventing around the patent for competitors. In our theoretical model, we find that the disclosure effect - contingent … on the competitive environment of the inventor - possibly has substantial negative effects on the propensity to patent …