I introduce and analyze an equilibrium model of discovery, innovation, patenting and infringement. Firms that innovate must adapt complementary inputs, and are ex ante uncertain about whether adaptations will be costly and whether they will infringe other patents. If adaptation requires...

In 1982, the US Congress established the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) as the sole appellate court for patent cases. Ostensibly, this court was created to eliminate inconsistencies in the application and interpretation of patent law across federal courts, and thereby mitigate...

This paper examines the impact of three patent damage regimes on licensing and competition between a patentee and imitator. We focus on product patents in a differentiated, duopoly setting. Neither per-unit royalties nor fixed fees under efficient licensing are unique in equilibrium. As a...

We use structural break analysis to estimate rates of patent validity and infringement in decisions on the merits in United States Courts over 1929-2006. We separately estimate these rates for District Court and Appeals Court decisions. We find multiple structural breaks in both validity and...