Economics of Innovation Patents Manuel Trajtenberg 2005 1

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What are patents all about? • A patent is a legal document that grants monopoly rights over a specific innovation for a specified period of time (~ 20 years). • Why? To provide incentives to innovate: if inventions could be copied, nobody will incur the fix costs of developing it. • So important that specified in the US Constitution. • Patents involve a deal: monopoly rights in exchange for disclosure – that further promotes innovation. • As R&D and innovation become more important in the industrialized world, patent protection gains in stature. 2

Patents as mechanism of appropriability • Innovation: creation of new Knowledge • Nice/nasty property of Knowledge: it leaks out easily! • Costs of copying knowledge usually very low • Hence need protection in order to reap benefits from innovation => Need appropriability mechanisms 3

Other mechanisms of appropriability • Secrecy • Lead Times • Monopoly power in the field – barriers to entry Patents – important in pharmaceuticals and chemicals, less in other industries 4

Additional roles of patents • Tool for mutual deterrence • Tool for transfer/trade in technology, e. g. from Universities, from individual inventors/start ups. 5

Patent Policy • Scope of what’s patentable: business methods, gene sequences… • “Size” (breath) of patents • How/when to allow for opposition/ appeals? • Whether and when to disclose applications. 6

International Issues • Harmonization (e. g. first to file vs. first to invent) • Pharmaceutical patents in third world countries. • Enforcement. 7

Patents as depositories of wealth of information on innovation • Very detailed information, millions of patents • Can study countries, firms, inventors; • Can study links over time and across geography and institutions. (see front page of patent) 8

Front page of patent (partial) United States Patent 6, 539, 988 Pressurized container adapter for charging automotive systems Inventors: Cowan; David M. (Brooklyn, NY); Schapers; Jochen (New York, NY); Trachtenberg; Saul (New York, NY); Nikolayev; Nikolay V. (Flushing, NY) Assignee: Interdynamics, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) Filed: December 28, 2001 Current U. S. Class: 141/67; 137/614. 04; 141/351; 251/149. 1 Intern'l Class: B 65 B Primary Examiner: Douglas; Steven O. 9 Attorney, Agent or Firm: Levisohn, Lerner, Berger & Langsam LLP

Front page – cont. References Cited 3131733 3448779 3907012 3976110 4644982 4903741 4995417 5248125 5609195 5626173 6079444 6296228 10 6360795 May. , 1964 Jun. , 1969 Sep. , 1975 Aug. , 1976 Feb. , 1987 Feb. , 1990 Feb. , 1991 Sep. , 1993 Mar. , 1997 May. , 1997 Jun. , 2000 Oct. , 2001 Mar. , 2002 Monahon. Horwitt. Burke. White. Hatch. Ibanez Naku. Fritch et al. Stricklin et al. Groult. Harris et al. Knowles et al. Bothe et al. 141/350. 141/346. 137/614. 141/346.

Patent Citations: Spillovers, Importance Compaq 4/1995 TX spillovers Intel 11/1996 AZ importance 11 Compaq 7/1995 TX IBM 3/1997 TX, FL “Self-citations” Compaq 10/1998 CA

Number of USPTO Patents by Application Year 12

US patents granted, by grant year Pre 1990 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 All Years Total, U. S. And 1815531 Foreign Origin -- Subtotal -- U. S. 1182124 Origin -- Subtotal -- Foreign 633407 Origin 153486 157494 166037 167333 169028 3583813 83906 85068 87605 86972 87901 2132534 69580 72426 78432 80361 81127 1451279 JAPAN GERMANY UK FRANCE CANADA SWITZERLAND TAIWAN ITALY SWEDEN NETHERLANDS SOUTH KOREA AUSTRALIA BELGIUM 13 AUSTRIA 31104 9337 3572 3820 3226 1279 3693 1492 1401 1247 3562 707 648 479 31295 10235 3667 3819 3419 1322 4667 1714 1577 1241 3314 705 694 505 33224 11259 3965 4041 3606 1420 5371 1709 1741 1332 3538 875 718 589 34859 11280 3837 4035 3431 1364 5431 1751 1675 1391 3786 859 722 530 35517 11444 3627 3869 3426 1308 5298 1722 1521 1325 3944 900 622 592 556335 265313 113109 101163 67753 48728 40746 39328 34800 31978 29437 14725 13728 12476 184348 146010 70825 54725 31144 31386 2341 19600 19681 17353 599 6402 6567 6595