Big companies and small innovation factories possess different advantages in a patent contest. While large firms …. Furthermore, acquisitions increase the chances for a successful innovation. -- patent contest ; sequential acquisitions … patent contest with asymmetric firms. In a pre-contest acquisition game large firms bid sequentially for small firms to …

patentability standards at PTOs (Patent and Trademark Offices awarding so-called bad patents), not only "false innovators" have the … chance of being granted patents but also, and more interestingly, "true innovators" are forced to patent more intensively … distortions caused by bad patents. Moreover, we show that introducing a two-tiered patent system is unlikely to improve market …