This paper examines the factors that cause differences in patent examination outcomes at the trilateral patent offices using a dataset of more than 70,000 non-PCT patent applications filed at the European and Japanese Patent Offices conditional upon them being granted by the United States Patent...

While most developed countries apply the same criteria to determine whether an invention is eligible to be protected by a patent, there are substantial procedural differences in the way in which different patent offices examine a patent application. This means that a patent application may be...

The effectiveness of patent protection depends not only on the existence of patent laws on the books, but also on the ability to enforce the rights granted by those laws. In recent years, there has been concern expressed in Australia that courts are providing inadequate protection for patent...

In this paper, we identify three policy instruments governments have at their disposal to affect the power of patent rights to prevent imitation: the size of the inventive step used to make the patent granting decision, the rigour of the patent examination process and the predisposition of the...

Over the past quarter of a century, trade mark applications have grown by 2.3 per cent per annum faster than real GDP in Australia. This paper explores the factors associated with this growth. We find some evidence that over the past two decades, trademarking has been associated with more...

There is a common, largely anecdotally-based belief that registered intellectual property is a less efficient form of protection for SME inventors compared with inventors from large firms. This paper discusses the reasons why SMEs may be disadvantaged in their use of intellectual property as...

In this paper, we focus on the effects of macroeconomic conditions on commercialisation. Using survey data on the activities of Australian inventors who attempted to commercialise 3,736 inventions over the period 1986-2005, we find evidence that macroeconomic conditions have a pro-cyclical...

Economists and strategic management theorists interested in sustained competitive advantage often examine firms’ management of knowledge. Somewhat surprisingly, the interaction between knowledge creation and knowledge capture practices has received little attention. Using survey data from...

Although many companies compete through the development of new technologies and products, it is well known that innovation is inherently risky and therefore may increase the ex ante likelihood of both exceptional company performance and bankruptcy. However, existing empirical studies...