This paper examines the intertemporal returns of patented inventions using estimates of patent value obtained from German employee inventors’ compensation records. The paper finds heterogeneity in the mean age and dispersion of the annual returns by technology and cumulative patent value....

This paper uses a novel data source, namely German employee inventors' compensation records compiled in compliance with the German Employee Invention Act of 1957 to estimate the returns to patented inventions. In contrast to patent value estimates obtained from surveys and renewals, these...