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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Cumulative Research and the Patent Law
Abstract
Most innovators stand on the shoulders of giants, and never more so than in the current evolution of high technologies, where almost all technical progress builds on a foundation provided by earlier innovators. Most economics literature on patenting and patent races has looked at innovations in isolation, without focusing on the externalities or spillovers that early innovators confer on later innovators. But the cumulative nature of research poses problems for the optimal design of patent law that are not addressed by that perspective. The challenge is to reward early innovators fully for the technological foundation they provide to later innovators, but to reward later innovators adequately for their improvements and new products as well. This paper investigates the use of patent protection and cooperative agreements among firms to protect incentives for cumulative research.
... temel bilim -----> uygulamalı araĢtırma -----> geliĢtirme ve ticari yenilik ġekil-1 Doğrusal Model Fikri mülkiyet hakları, yeni bilgi üretecek aktörlere tam da böyle bir koruma sağlaması amacıyla verilmektedir. Ancak bilgi üretiminin doğasında var olan ardıĢıklık (sequentiality), dinamik verimliliğin sağlanması için üretilen bilginin mümkün olduğunca çok kiĢi tarafından kullanılmasını ve dolayısıyla açık bir Ģekilde paylaĢılmasını gerekli kılmaktadır (Arrow 1962, Scotchmer 1991. Bu fikri mülkiyet haklarının katı bir Ģekilde uygulanmamasının gerekliliğine, diğer bir deyiĢle dar kapsamlı olarak tanımlanmasının faydalı olacağına iĢaret etmektedir (Scotchmer 2004). ...
... Özel sektörün ve firmaların rolü ise daha çok teknoloji ve yenilik üretimi bağlamında ele alınmaktadır. Bu türde bilgi üretimini teĢvik edecek fikri mülkiyet hakları sisteminin nasıl tesis edileceğine iliĢkin düzenlemeler son iki yüzyıldır tartıĢma konusu olmuĢtur (Machlup ve Penrose 1950, Elkin-Korel ve Salzberger 2012, Scotchmer 1991, Fisk 1998, 2014, Merges 1999, Besen ve Raskind 1991, Foray 2004. Bu iki kurumsal yapıya dayanan bir ekosistemin varlığından hareketle bilim ve teknoloji politikalarının oluĢturulmasının ve bunlar arasındaki simbiyotik iliĢkinin geliĢtirilmesinin gerekliliği (üniversite-sanayi iĢbirliği tartıĢmalarında da olduğu gibi) literatürde sıkça vurgulanmaktadır (Rosenberg ve Nelson 1994). ...
... Bilgi üretiminde pozitif dıĢsallıklar aslında baĢta vurguladığımız dinamik verimlilikle ilgilidir. Scotchmer"in (1991) belirttiği gibi yeni bilgi üretenler aslında Isaac Newton"a atfedilen sözde de bahsedildiği üzere "devlerin omuzları üzerinde yükselmektedirler". Buna ek olarak örtük bilginin varlığı, bilginin yayılmasına doğal bir sınır koymakta ve bedavacılık sorununun Ģiddetini bir müdahaleye ihtiyaç duymadan azaltmaktadır. ...
In this article, tacit knowledge, which is one of the factors that affects knowledge production and dissemination is examined by using game theory. Information as a public good approach advocates government intervention or intellectual property to achieve Pareto efficiency in information production. Under tacit knowledge, Pareto efficiency can be achieved without any intervention. As argued by researchers such as Joseph Schumpeter and Friedrich Hayek, the entrepreneur's function is important in the production and dissemination of tacit knowledge. While discussing the assumptions of approaches that model tacit knowledge, we also summarize the policy implications of them. The article develops a game theoretic framework to understand the nature of tacit knowledge, and provides a strategic perspective to examine the relationships between actors and institutions (universities, firms, and entrepreneurs) involved in knowledge production.
... Of course, knowledge leakage should not, and indeed, does not always bear a negative connotation. Positive externalities, which are created by non-rivalrousness and cumulativeness in knowledge production and dissemination [5,42,82], are not only part of the problem but, instead, behind the success of industrial-and knowledge-based societies since the industrial revolution [9,26,27,63]. ...
... Notwithstanding that, patentability criteria are inherently ambiguous and cannot regulate patent policy in areas such as genetic inventions. This is why, to some extent, laws and regulations on how to establish an IPR regime to promote knowledge production have been discussed extensively over the last two centuries [14,15,31,34,35,59,62,82,83]. ...
... Recall that the positive impact of knowledge sharing (and spillovers) on others [5,42], i.e., positive externalities in knowledge production have always been central element of knowledge and innovation commons. Those who produce new knowledge are actually rising on the shoulders of giants [82]. This characteristic of knowledge is even appreciated in the private sector as in success stories such as Silicon Valley [13,33,37,39,49,50,81]. ...
We model the interaction between science and technology using an evolutionary game theoretic framework. Conflictual rather than synergistic relation between science and technology is assumed, in which they rely on openness and secrecy as alternative behavioral norms. We argue that science-driven technology and intellectual property extension to basic science blur the distinction between openness and secrecy, which result in competition and tension between them. We first discuss why two-player static games are insufficient to model the interaction between science and technology. Then, we show that there are different dynamical outcomes in multiplayer settings, including coexistence in which both of these strategies survive. Finally, we discuss how the stable equilibria of the evolutionary game are related to the codification of knowledge, and intellectual property rights policies that affect the balance between open culture and exclusive control rights.
... For an equally long period, scholars have recognized the central role of heterogeneous knowledge in influencing competition, competitive advantage and the evolution of products, firms, and industries (Penrose, 1959;Cohen and Levinthal, 1989;Klepper and Graddy, 1990;March, 1991;Klepper, 1996). Further, the difficulties associated with obtaining a socially optimal level of diversity of innovation have been long understood to arise from difficulties with appropriability and indivisibility, which yield externalities and fixed costs that negatively affect initial inventors relative to subsequent inventors and result in underinvestment in innovation (Arrow, 1962;Scotchmer, 1991). Acemoglu (2012) demonstrates that market incentives, as currently crafted around intellectual property protection policies, yield underinvestment in research diversity relative to the social optimum. ...
... For example, in Furman and Teodoridis (2020), we successfully apply the same techniques to a large body of academic papers to evaluate the role of automating research technologies in influencing the rate and direction of academic research, an important topic of study that has been lagging due to difficulties of measuring changes in the direction of innovation. Also, Lu (2022) applies these techniques to evaluate the impact of an innovation policy targeted at increasing attention to a certain area of research on alternative research lines, with implications for the socially optimal diversity of research (Arrow, 1962;Scotchmer, 1991;Acemoglu, 2012 ...
... category, in which an invention often has many potentially patentable elements and they are interlinked. As a consequence, an ICT patent is often shoulders of giants , as Isaac Newton puts it, which Suzanne Scotchmer (1991) also referred to in her analysis of the scope of patents and patent citations. ...
... Innovation policies/institutions need to be finely tuned. For example, Suzanne Scotchmer (1991) suggests that the breadth of patent protection of a prior patent can be a determining factor for the existence of the second patent. This is particularly true in the category of complex technologies (section 2.3). ...
This chapter deals with a fundamental issue of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) dynamics: the industrial knowledge of ICTs. Four main knowledge approaches are introduced, in conjunction with a discussion on the extent to which these approaches contribute to our understanding of ICT innovation and diffusion. Three cases are further used to illustrate this linkage between knowledge traits and innovation based on evidence at both the sectoral and the micro (firm) levels.
... Författaren föreslår att framtida forskning borde belysa samband mellan gemensam patentering och hur starkt skyddet är för immateriella rättigheter. En hypotes skulle kunna vara att gemensam patentering kan vara effektivt i branscher där patent är lätta att "uppfinna runt", varför ensamt ägande ses som mindre värdefullt.Ett tillkortakommande inom litteraturen kring immateriella tillgångar är att den inte i särskilt stor utsträckning tar hänsyn till innovation som en långtgående process som kan involvera flera parter över tid, enligtScotchmer (1991). Forskningen ser med andra ord allt för ofta innovation som en isolerad process. ...
... senare uppfinningar bygger på tidiga, finns det en förhöjd risk för välfärdsförluster. Om det inte är någon koordination mellan de företag som genomför FoU ärScotchmer (1991) har bl.a. föreslagit att efterföljande företag skulle förhandla med pionjären för att dela kostnader och vinster för den senare uppfinningen. ...
Intangible assets and wealth.
In recent years, more and more organizations have realized the value of understanding and researching how assets that are not physical in nature can still have a significant effect on economic development – regardless of the level at which one chooses to measure this development. Several different studies have tried to measure these assets by developing different aggregate indices and measures. The research has taken long strides, not least in recent times through, e.g., Corrado et al. (2012), but these intangible assets are by their nature difficult to measure at the macro level and research can at best create fair approximations for this. The latest research development gives hope that the measurements will be better and better, especially at industry level, which has not previously received as much attention.
Most studies at the macro level seem to find that there is a positive relationship between intangible assets, innovation and economic growth or productivity growth. Most studies use patent data in some form as a measure of intangible assets. Other intangible assets such as trademarks and works of art often shine with their absence due to lack of data. Studies rarely take account of the combination of different intangible assets and their effect on growth/prosperity. In addition, most empirical studies measure correlation rather than actually being able to invoke causality. It is possible that there is a two-way connection, i.e., that intangible assets affect growth and vice versa. Furthermore, it is problematic to determine whether the positive relationship is due to other factors affecting both intangible assets and economic growth. Finally, the adoption of external innovation and a country's specialization or technological profile have been shown to play a role in economic prosperity.
Strategies for intangible assets and wealth.
Few studies empirically relate strategies around intellectual property rights to economic growth at the macro level. However, there are several who study differences in the exercise of intellectual property rights at industry level. The choice between formally and non-formally protecting new inventions and technologies seems to largely depend on the types of technologies and products/processes in question and how effective the protection is in practice. The same can be said about the choice between different types of intellectual property rights. The choice to patent or not has primarily consequences for the spread of technology in society, as knowledge is published in patent applications.
Furthermore, it has been shown that assets that are complementary to a new technology can play an important role in being able to introduce an innovation in the market. These include, e.g., assets used for marketing and manufacturing purposes. Upon introduction, trademarks and patents can serve as both substitutes and complements. Initially, patent protection is sufficient, but in order to maintain its position in the long term, companies may need to build customer loyalty around a protected brand.
In recent years, research has placed increasing emphasis on studying markets for innovation and open innovation, where technologies and innovations are spread between different parties. Issues that have been in focus are the type of innovations that are most often licensed or sold and when it is optimal to license or sell a technology instead of commercializing it on your own. Here, too, the decision seems to depend on the properties of the technology and what characterizes the industry and the market in which the innovator operates.
With regard to the integration of close partners and collaborations, e.g., why companies collaborate, what influences the nature of the collaboration and when collaborations are most effective. The literature suggests that differences in knowledge between partners can have both a positive and negative impact on the outcome of the collaboration.
The design of intellectual property rights and prosperity.
The design of intellectual property rights and other legislation is not only important if and how intangible assets is created. It also affects the strategies that companies use when it comes to managing their intangible assets. For example, stronger legislation on trade secrets could be both a complement and a substitute for patent applications. In the latter case, there is a risk that the dissemination of knowledge will decrease.
The research that has been done on the design of intellectual property rights and how this affects prosperity has mainly been about: 1) the design of patent rights with regard to height, breadth, length, and time for publication and how this affects innovation and prosperity; 2) how the strength of patent protection affects the incentives to patent technologies; and 3) how the strength of patent protection generally affects growth and innovation in rich and poor countries. Much remains to be done when it comes to copyright and trademark protection. Not least given that the importance of these two protections is growing strongly. Copyright applies to all digitized products - artistic and literary works as well as software – and trademark protection applies to a wider group of companies than just the innovative ones.
... According to Overall Characteristics, practically 95% of unprecedented contaminations don't have FDA upheld meds or fixes. Nevertheless, because of recreated knowledge and ML's innovative limits, the circumstance is rapidly changing for the higher [12]. ...
Man-made consciousness may incredibly expand the effectiveness of the current economy.
Nevertheless, it could have a lot greater impact by filling in as another generally valuable
"methodology for development" that can reshape the possibility of the improvement collaboration and
the relationship of Research and development. We perceive between computerization arranged
applications like mechanical innovation and the potential for later progressions in "significant
learning" to fill in as a comprehensively valuable method for creation, finding strong verification of a
"shift" in the meaning of purpose arranged learning research beginning around 2009. We prescribe
that this is presumably going to provoke a basic substitution away from more routinized work
heightened research towards research that takes advantage of the exchange between inertly created
immense datasets and further developed assumption estimations. All the while, the potential business
prizes from ruling this strategy for investigation are most likely going to present a period of hustling,
driven by astonishing inspirations for individual associations to obtain and control essential
tremendous datasets and application-unequivocal estimations. We recommend that approaches which
support straightforwardness and sharing of center datasets across both public and private
entertainers might be basic instruments for invigorating examination efficiency and development
situated contest going ahead.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Man-made brain, Computer based intelligence, Medication
repurposing
... Internalization of externalities can be a solution when there is a problem to solve, but it also can be a problem to avoid when the two hypotheses do not hold. Knowledge distortions that undermine the generation of socially valuable ripple effects, including cumulative innovation and cascading spillovers (Arrow, 1962;Scotchmer, 1991;Frischmann, 2009). For example, if the inventor of the microscope captured the full social value of the invention, it would reduce the incentive for countless scientists to make innumerable discoveries that are in the aggregate far more valuable (Arrow, 1962;Lemley, 2005;Frischmann and Lemley, 2007 [collecting sources and historical examples]). ...
Introduction:
Do externalities work and matter differently in a world of scarcity vs. a world of abundance? In this article, we critically examine the economic phenomena of externalities. The concept of externality, an important idea in economics and law, is useful in exploring the complex and dynamic relationships between resource supply and human flourishing within various sociotechnical systems.
Methods:
First, we define the basic concept and explain why it is fundamental to economic analysis of complex social environments Second, we briefly survey the intellectual history of externalities with the goal of tying together a few different strands of economic theory and providing a roadmap for a general theory of externalities. This discussion highlights a latent conflict between those who pursue and those who resist perfectibility (optimization) of social systems by internalizing externalities. Third, we compare externalities in worlds of scarcity and abundance.
Results:
This article develops the theoretical framework, including a brief intellectual history and notes toward the development of a general theory of externalities. As a conceptual tool, externalities enable one to identify and examine social interdependencies and to map their causes and consequences. Externalities provide evidence of social demand for governance institutions. This descriptive utility can and should inform normative analysis, the design of governance institutions, and comparative institutional analysis. We also raise a series of (mostly empirical) questions that should frame comparative institutional analysis and evaluation of different externalities in the digital networked world.
Discussion:
We focus on the scarcity and abundance of knowledge resources and the (technological) means for participating in the production, dissemination, and modification of such resources. In the real, necessarily imperfect world where abundance and scarcity vary across resources, people, and contexts, externalities persist, indicate social demand for governance, and inform comparative analysis and design of governance institutions.
Jel classification:
D62, B52, D02.
... The impact of IP rights on the rate and direction of scientific research is subtle. When strong and broad IP rights are available in a sequential-innovation setting, early-stage researchers can capture the value of their innovation by imposing access fees, thus enhancing the incentives for early-stage research but imposing a tax on follow-on research activities (Arrow 1962, Scotchmer 1991. In its simplest form, this perspective focuses attention on the trade-off between enhancing incentives for development of existing innovations via follow-on research (achieved by relaxing IP protection), and providing incentives for the creation of new early-stage research (achieved through tighter IP protection). ...
This paper argues that openness, by lowering costs to access existing research, can enhance both early and late stage innovation through greater exploration of novel research directions. We examine a natural experiment in openness: late-1990s NIH agreements that reduced academics’ access costs regarding certain genetically engineered mice. Implementing difference-in-differences estimators, we find that increased openness encourages entry by new researchers and exploration of more diverse research paths, and does not reduce the creation of new genetically engineered mice. Our findings highlight a neglected cost of strong intellectual property restrictions: lower levels of exploration leading to reduced diversity of research output. (JEL I23, O31, O33, O34)
... Hier speelt ook de cumulatieve natuur van het innovatieproces, waarbij toekomstige innovaties voortbouwen op huidige innovaties. Patenten slagen er niet in om deze 'intertemporele coördinatie' tot stand te brengen (Scotchmer, 1991). ...
This report, commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, provides starting points for how to evaluate systemic innovation policy as well as transition policies. It discusses different evaluation perspectives and empirical methods. Based on these, the report offers a framework (and decision diagram) for determining what evaluation approach to use for different elements of the causal chain between policy rationale and policy impact.
... Among the various theories (Taalbi, 2017a), some emphasize the importance of 'positive' drivers such as market needs and profits, revenue generated by innovation and its exploitation (Scotchmer, 1991;Moser, 2005;Moser, 2013;Lundvall, 1988), or the benefits of knowledge accumulation and new technological opportunities (Romer, 1990;Aghion-Howitt, 1992;Klevorick et al., 1995). On the other hand, there are perspectives that all discovery is driven by necessity; these are sometimes referred to as 'negative' drivers (Taalbi, 2017b), but the majority of them also take an economic view, emphasizing, for example, the loss of profit as a cause of the drivers (Greve, 2003). ...
The paper addresses the prospects and directions for the Visegrad nations' economies that should be produced and highlighted, with the purpose of giving substantive conclusions that policymakers and decision makers can use to determine their economies' future paths. Although the Visegrad countries are highlighted, the paper is a theoretical research that focuses on the technique of futures studies, specifically on determining the driving causes and significant areas, sectors - that will shape and define the future. To begin, we will examine the methodologies of futures studies and the changes brought about by the multidisciplinary approach, before highlighting and defining the positive and negative drivers of development, which will enable us to pinpoint those critical areas and sectors. The paper identifies six of these directions that can characterize and drive humanity's growth in the coming decades and discusses how the Visegrad countries can profit from them.
... A recent example is apps related to vaccine passports to monitor infections during the coronavirus pandemic (Goel & Jones, 2022). An understanding of mobile app production/diffusion can have longer-term implications as users become innovators (Scotchmer, 1991;van der Boor et al., 2014). ...
Mobile apps have proliferated online in recent years, but related formal research has lagged behind. Using data on a large sample of nations over the years 2018–2020, we estimate the drivers of mobile app production. Results show that more mobile subscribers (capturing demand‐pull effects) increase mobile app production. However, overall E‐participation fails to exert a significant influence. Both FDI inflows and ICT imports contribute to mobile app production, as do the inputs and outputs of overall technological change (patents, researchers, and knowledge workers). These results contrast with the (mostly insignificant) results for capital formation and the rule of law.
... Eftersom immaterialrätter inte alltid används som det är tänkt finns det en diskussion om vad den optimala omfattningen är, både vad gäller tid och immaterialrätten i den digitala eran innehåll. Diskussionen illustreras av Suzanne Scotchmer (1991), som förklarar att ett för brett skydd för den första generationens produkt kan ledda till bristfälliga incitament för utveckling av andra generationens produkt, eftersom den andra generationens innovatör måste överföra en (stor) del av resurserna till den första generations innovatör (på grund av licenskostnaden). ...
... As Markush patent documents are thus more likely to be used as novelty-destroying prior art for follow-on innovation, they might make follow-on R&D less attractive. This, aligned with existing literature, suggests that broad patents might slow down follow-on innovation (Merges and Nelson, 1990;Scotchmer, 1991). ...
Markush structures are molecular skeletons containing not only specific atoms but also placeholders to represent broad sets of chemical (sub)structures. As genus claims, they allow a vast number of compounds to be claimed in a patent application without having to specify every single chemical entity. While Markush structures raise important questions regarding the functioning of the patent system, innovation researchers have been surprisingly silent on the topic. This paper summarizes the ongoing policy debate about Markush structures and provides first empirical insights into how Markush structures are used in patent documents in the pharmaceutical industry and how they affect important outcomes in the patent prosecution process. While not causing frictions in the patent prosecution process, patent documents containing Markush structures have an increased likelihood to restrict the patentability of follow-on inventions and to facilitate the construction of broad patent fences.
... The vocabulary most closely related to it is derivative work (DW). DW can be broadly understood as a transformation of human knowledge and culture, including cultural, scientific and artistic aspects (Scotchmer 1991). From a copyright perspective, DW should have its integrity and independence rather than rote and uncreative work (630 F.2d 905 (2d Cir), 1980;536 F.2d 486 (2d Cir) 2008). ...
This research clarifies the impact of aesthetic emotions on consumers’ emotional durability of fashion products. Four design methods of fashion art derivatives were proposed, and 24 samples were selected for testing. The experiment was conducted in China, testing the relationship between respondents’ preferences and aesthetic emotions. Results suggested that the direct participation of artists in design could gain the favour of more respondents. A significant correlation was found between the developed period of derivatives and respondents’ preferences. Derivatives that experience time precipitation may be more popular with respondents. Different design methods could affect the aesthetic emotions of the public. Artists’ participation can evoke better Pleasant–Excited emotion, while most of the emotions of art institute derivatives belong to the Pleasant–Calm range. The emotions evoked by respondents’ preferred samples were mainly in-depth emotions, which indicated that collaborative design could distinguish fashion derivatives from common fashion products and obtain longer lifespans.
... Hence its boundaries grow as they are explored, i.e. , each new combination leads other new combinations into the adjacent possible ( Johnson, 2011 ). Note also that this concept is directly related to the cumulativeness of knowledge which involves recombination and reuse of all available pieces of knowledge ( Foray, 2004;Scotchmer, 1991 ). The above discussion leads us to the premise A 1 stated below. ...
This paper analyzes pro-competitive patent pools using basic premises of knowledge creation and their reflections for modern patent pools in the presence of intellectual property rights (IPR). We argue that cumulativeness and combinatorial nature of knowledge production correspond to path dependence and increasing returns in the realm of the knowledge economy. This correspondence allows us to model dynamics of modern patent pools using nonlinear Polya urns. We show that increasing the number of firms contributing to a patent pool of complementary patents or increasing the rate of having infringing patents favor the contributing firms' coexistence chance. On the other hand, increasing these parameters negatively affects the non-contributing firm's relative number of patents. In particular, the probability that the frequency of the latter firm's patents vanishes asymptotically increases as these parameters grow. As a result, we conclude that the probability that the market will be dominated by the firms contributing to pro-competitive patent pool increases as the pool enlarges.
... In a dynamic sense, technology spillovers have longer-term payoffs as future technologies are based on current spillovers (Antonelli 2006;Scotchmer 1991). How these spillovers depreciate over time is a key question in assessing the social returns from a given innovation (Henderson 2007). ...
This paper identifies channels of influence of foreign linkages on innovative activity in nations and it compares the relative effects of aggregate innovation linkages, FDIs, high-tech imports, and ICT imports, on patenting across a large sample of nations. Whereas various drivers of the international innovative activity have been studied in the literature, our understanding of the contributions of different linkages to innovation deserves more attention. We ask: Are the different innovation linkages equally complementary to research inputs in fostering innovation? We find that a broader index of innovation linkages shows positive and significant spillovers on innovation. We also find some support for the positive link between FDIs and innovation; however, high-tech imports and ICT imports have opposite effects on innovation, with the former effect being negative. These spillovers are reinforced by the positive and expected impacts of R&D spending. In other results, greater venture capital investments boost innovation in most cases. The findings are somewhat sensitive across two alternative measures of patenting and there are some nonlinearities in the influence of FDIs and imports on innovation.
... 14 Arthur (2009) (describing the ''combinatorial evolution'' of technology, thereby highlighting that new technologies do not come from nowhere but arise as combination of other technologies). 15 Scotchmer (1991), p. 29. 16 Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Co., 535 U.S. 722, 730-31 (2002 ...
The most commonly provided economic rationale underlying the patent system is that it incentivizes inventive effort that may not be carried out in its absence. In addition to this utilitarian rationale, economic and legal scholars frequently refer to a second rationale: the dissemination of technological information to the public. This notice function is thought of as an important mechanism to enable a more efficient investment in innovation by stimulating further (cumulative) innovation, reducing wasteful duplicate innovative efforts, and limiting unnecessary litigation. Courts have placed a great deal of emphasis on the notice function and have described it as the quid pro quo of granting patent owners the right to exclude. Whereas the notice function is traditionally confined to the adequate disclosure of inventions, we propose that in light of the recent trend towards rapidly growing markets for patent monetization it should also encompass the adequate disclosure of holders of patent rights. Specifically, we argue that knowing the identity of rightsholders is a fundamental prerequisite for any patent transaction to occur. Based on a comparative analysis of the provisions of six patent offices, we illustrate that even though current provisions warrant an adequate disclosure of the identity of initial patent applicants, they provide the public with only limited opportunities to track subsequent changes of ownership. Whilst most patent authorities require to file notice when patent rights are assigned, strict enforcement mechanisms are absent. This allows for a lack of transparency of patent ownership, which may hamper rather than facilitate technology transactions.
The conceptualization of knowledge as a commons is spreading fast. A distinct yet interrelated strand of the literature on knowledge argues that knowledge could be the fourth fictitious commodity in Karl Polanyi’s framework. The proliferation of these disparate approaches on the (economic) nature of knowledge not only reflects the rising importance of knowledge in coordinating economic activity but also raises concerns about the over-privatization of knowledge that has become increasingly more visible. The gradual extension of intellectual property rights over almost every type of knowledge production makes scholars reconsider the nature of knowledge as an economic good. These concerns point out the inherent limitation of the knowledge as a public good approach which relies on the classic state-versus-market dichotomy. Moving beyond the public good approach has the potential to open new vistas for economics of knowledge if only (i) a broader perspective of the nature of information and knowledge (including tacitness) and (ii) the role of local as well as global communities in which sharing, cooperation, and reciprocity play decisive roles could be integrated into the analytical scheme. Moreover, these extensions are not mutually exclusive. By recourse to them we can show the limits of governance, market-based or otherwise, and the much-needed role of institutional diversity in knowledge production. To this effect, after pointing out the limitations of the knowledge-as-fictitious-commodity argument, we demonstrate the relevance of a tripartite governance framework. We contribute to the ongoing debates on knowledge commons as well as over-privatization of knowledge and emphasize another adverse effect of over-privatization of knowledge that has been overlooked in the literature: the marginalization of reciprocity, sharing, and cooperation that have always been key elements of knowledge governance.
Intellectual property rights have changed the market value and direction of artistic innovation throughout art history, in particular when new creations built on the art of predecessors. In this paper, we test how changes in legal frameworks and litigation risks affected market value and commercial trade around artistic reuses in the figurative arts and the 'Appropriation Art' movement in particular. Appropriation artists borrow images from different sources and incorporate them into new, derivative works of art. By doing so, they risk infringing copyright but also put auction trade and artwork availability at litigation risk as liability can extend to market intermediaries, such as auction houses, museums, or galleries. Using a differences-in-differences model and large-scale online data, we investigate the causal impact of the prominent Cariou v. Prince decision on intermediary trade and the availability of artworks on sale in the Appropriation Art. As an exogenous shock, this U.S. higher court decision changed the perceived litigation risk for market intermediaries around what constitutes fair use. Following the court decision, we find a temporary decline in the total number of global auctions in the Appropriation Art, a lower sales probability of these artworks, and a relocation of related auctions to non-U.S. houses.
This paper explores three novel research questions. First, is an increase in the number of countries involved in ownership of a co-patent an effective way to enhance patent quality? Second, if the objective is to raise patent quality, which are the right countries to collaborate with? And third, does cooperation with partners located in a tax haven affect patent quality? The empirical methodology relies on forward citations as an indicator of quality, and patent co-ownership as a measure of international collaboration. Our econometric findings show that, first, the average effect of international collaboration is a 4.9% increase in patent quality compared with those patents for which the assignees come from a single country (once we controlled for patent characteristics). When the number of countries in which the assignees are based increases, the effect of this wider collaboration on patent quality is also greater, though only for up to a maximum of five countries. Second, to produce patents of better quality, the most suitable countries with which to collaborate were found to be the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. Finally, collaboration with firms located in a country categorized as a tax haven does not have any significant impact on patent quality.
This paper studies how federal funding affects the innovation outputs of university researchers. We link person-level research grants from 22 universities to patents, publications, and career outcomes from the U.S. Census Bureau. We focus on the effects of large, idiosyncratic, and temporary cuts to federal funding in a researcher’s preexisting narrow field of study. Using an event study design, we document that these negative federal funding shocks reduce high-tech entrepreneurship and publications, but increase patenting. The lost publications tend to be higher quality and more basic, while the additional patents tend to be lower quality, less general, and more often privately assigned. These federal funding cuts lead to an increase in private funding, which partially compensates for the decline in federal funding. Together with evidence from industry-university contracts, the results suggest that federal funding cuts shift university research funding from federal to private sources and lead to innovation outputs that are less openly accessible and more often appropriated by corporate funders.
Purpose
Several countries, such as South Africa and India, believe that intellectual property rights (IPRs), including patents, impede the efficient increase in vaccine production to inoculate the global population as they scramble to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Their proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waive these pharmaceutical patents has been met with resistance from a few developed countries, who believe that the abrogation of IPRs is unnecessary, even during a pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of a potential waiver of medical patents at the WTO versus the status quo of IPR laws in the global economy.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines key arguments from economic and moral standpoints regarding the provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and other related international agreements and their validity based on the premise of the internalisation of positive externalities posed by vaccines.
Findings
The effectiveness of the TRIPS agreement in securing medical access is weak on account of the ability of profit-making multinationals to secure IP rights and on account of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral agreement that supports patent evergreening and a period of protection on test data which challenges the access to medicines and the fundamental human right to health.
Originality/value
This study examines international IPRs through the lens of human rights and proposes a new system that balances the two.
The positive impact of university‐industry collaborations on firms’ innovative performance is well recognized. However, to date, the existing heterogeneity within university‐industry collaboration processes and the sources of value creation underlying the resulting inventions are left underexplored. As a result, our understanding as to why some of the joint inventions resulting from such collaborations turn out to present a more fertile source of follow‐on developments and value for the collaborating firm than others is limited. The present paper sheds light on this question through the application of a knowledge recombination perspective. Hence, we open the black box of innovation and put a spotlight on the knowledge components that make up the joint inventions resulting from university‐industry collaborations. We evaluate how the nature—scientific vs. technological—and origins—internal vs. external to the collaborating partners—of these knowledge components relate to the inventive impact of the partners’ joint invention. Examining a sample of 9,102 USPTO co‐patents, joint inventions created through university‐industry collaborations are shown to be most fertile as a source of firm follow‐on inventions when they are the result of a recombination process that includes technological knowledge components stemming from both collaborating partners. This effect is most pronounced when the partners’ technological knowledge contributions are moderately similar. In contrast, when the joint technology development takes place in a technology domain that is novel to the firm, the resulting joint inventions are most fertile as a source of firm follow‐on inventions when the university contributes through the input of technological knowledge components situated in exactly this technology domain that is novel to the firm. Remarkably, no evidence for such direct effects is found regarding the partners’ scientific contributions. Together, these findings provide important insights for firms who intend to spur their internal technology development through collaboration with a university partner. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Digital methods such as text and data mining are utilised more and more frequently to gather knowledge, thereby offering the ability to recognise patterns in large data sets as well as being the basis of machine learning. This work examines this digital method from a copyright perspective, evaluating the significance and controlling effect of copyright barriers, the special interests involved in scientific copyright law and elements of interdisciplinary knowledge. This comprehensive analysis structures this complex legal matter, identifies deficits and suggests viable solutions. One focus lies on the long-term accessibility of the research data that are generated within this process.
This portrait of the global debate over patent law and access to essential medicines focuses on public health concerns about HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, the SARS virus, influenza, and diseases of poverty. The essays explore the diplomatic negotiations and disputes in key international fora, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Drawing upon international trade law, innovation policy, intellectual property law, health law, human rights and philosophy, the authors seek to canvass policy solutions which encourage and reward worthwhile pharmaceutical innovation while ensuring affordable access to advanced medicines. A number of creative policy options are critically assessed, including the development of a Health Impact Fund, prizes for medical innovation, the use of patent pools, open-source drug development and forms of 'creative capitalism'.
Intellectual property is a vital part of the global economy, accounting for about half of the GDP in countries like the United States. Innovation, competition, economic growth and jobs can all be helped or hurt by different approaches to this key asset class, where seemingly slight changes in the rules of the game can have remarkable impact. This book brings together diverse perspectives from the fields of law, economics, business and political science to explore the ways varying approaches to intellectual property can positively and negatively impact our economy and society. Employing approaches that are both theoretically rigorous and grounded in the real world, Perspectives on Commercializing Innovation is well suited for practising lawyers, managers, lawmakers and analysts, as well as academics conducting research or teaching in a range of courses in law schools, business schools and economics departments, at either the undergraduate or graduate level.
Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter brings together leading scholars to offer diverse perspectives on the question of which types of subject matter are even eligible for patent protection, setting aside the widely known requirement that a claimed invention avoid the prior art and be adequately disclosed. Some leading commentators and policy-making bodies and individuals envision patentable subject matter to include anything under the sun made by humans, others envision a range of restrictions for particular fields of endeavor, from business methods and computer software to matters involving life, such as DNA and methods for screening or treating disease. Employing approaches that are both theoretically rigorous and grounded in the real world, this book is well suited for practicing lawyers, managers, lawmakers and analysts, as well as academics researching or teaching in law schools, business schools, public policy schools, and in economics and political science departments.
Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter brings together leading scholars to offer diverse perspectives on the question of which types of subject matter are even eligible for patent protection, setting aside the widely known requirement that a claimed invention avoid the prior art and be adequately disclosed. Some leading commentators and policy-making bodies and individuals envision patentable subject matter to include anything under the sun made by humans, others envision a range of restrictions for particular fields of endeavor, from business methods and computer software to matters involving life, such as DNA and methods for screening or treating disease. Employing approaches that are both theoretically rigorous and grounded in the real world, this book is well suited for practicing lawyers, managers, lawmakers and analysts, as well as academics researching or teaching in law schools, business schools, public policy schools, and in economics and political science departments.
How do intellectual property rights influence academic science? We investigate the consequences of the introduction of software patents in the United States on the publications of university researchers in the field of computer science. Difference-in-difference estimations reveal that software scientists at US universities produced fewer publications (both in terms of quantity and quality) than their European counterparts after patent rights for software inventions were introduced. We then introduce a theoretical model that accounts for substitution and complementarity between patenting and publishing as well as for the direction of research. In line with the model’s prediction, further results show that the decrease in publications is largest for scientists at the bottom of the ability distribution. Furthermore, we evidence a change in the direction of research following the reform toward more applied research.
Firms, especially Chinese manufacturing firms, invest significant resources in innovation activities to sustain their position in the intensifying competitive environment. However, innovation efficiency has led to growing concerns due to the rapid increase in R&D expenditures. The purpose of this study is to explore the complicated role of competition on innovation efficiency and firm performance with a sample of 12,020 Chinese manufacturing firms for the period 2005–2007. The results show that most Chinese manufacturing firms are inefficient in R&D activities. Competition forces firms to focus on the improvement of innovation efficiency, but at the same time, it also undermines collaboration and leads to unpredictable R&D results. Therefore, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between these variables. Competition also negatively moderates the positive impact of innovation efficiency on firm performance. The findings help firms formulate appropriate innovation strategies for sustainable innovation performance.
While explaining economic growth is still an open question in economics, it is widely recognized that innovation plays a leading role in its promotion. However, innovative activity involves both time delays and accumulation, and both are topics that neoclassical economics do not put an emphasis upon. If one introduces these features into a growth model and allows for imbalances between the demand and supply side of the economy, fluctuations are the result. This means that by introducing these mechanisms one can argue that investing in innovation can be both a driver for long-term growth as well as a reason for mid-term fluctuations. Hence, the growth dynamics arising from innovative activities have a more complicated pattern than neoclassical growth models can usually account for.
This paper investigates the extent to which a regulatory environment for R&D subsidies shapes the magnitude and direction of R&D subsidies set by a government and consequent innovation paths. When the WTO adopted a permissive regulatory environment, we find that the Korean government increased R&D subsidies significantly (89.21%) and selectively so for firms and industries with higher returns. Recipient firms conducted less basic research and more development research. Improvements in innovations were mostly incremental and minor. However, such changes did not persist once the WTO switched to a restrictive regulatory environment. Our findings show that the regulatory environment imposed by the WTO largely affects allocation of R&D subsidies and suggest that a permissive regulatory environment may not necessarily maximize the potential for breakthrough innovations.
Artificial intelligence appears to be the focus of this decade. Without a question, AI plays a significant role in the current economy around the world. However, pursuing innovation or research within a business requires a fresh approach, and Artificial Intelligence can undoubtedly help. Application-oriented learning research has grown in popularity since 2009. When we refer to automation-oriented applications like robotics, the potential for current advances in "deep learning" as a general-purpose method of invention may be substituted. This can be described as a paradigm shift away from labor-intensive, systematic research and toward research that incorporates passively generated huge datasets and improved prediction algorithms. It will not only assist organisations in mastering this form of study, but it will also provide potential commercial advantages. This strategy can assist in the acquisition and control of big datasets and application-specific algorithms. We believe that organisations should adopt rules that foster transparency and sharing of essential datasets across public and private players, since they will be critical instruments for boosting research productivity and innovation-driven competition in the future.
In this study, we integrate insights from the literature on top management team (TMT) composition, gender diversity, and cumulative innovation, and examine how TMT gender diversity (or women in TMTs) impacts firm innovation. We analyze a panel of U.S. firms over the period 2005–2019, exploiting U.S. state-level variation in support policies protecting the rights of female workers. We find that greater TMT gender diversity increases the number of innovations but decreases their impact. Furthermore, greater TMT gender diversity narrows the breadth of search (search becomes more local). We illuminate the multifaceted innovation outcomes of gender-diverse TMTs and highlight the risk-reducing effects of female TMT members in innovation contexts. Our study provides opportune innovation insights that are much needed in the current era, with the increasing presence of female executives in TMTs.
Commercial interest and technological advancements (such as modern
biotechnology) in plant research have led to the affirmation of sovereign and
proprietary rights over plant genetic resources (PGRs). The result is an
increasingly complex national regulatory system for rights in PGRs, shaped by
a dense web of international law instruments regulating trade, intellectual
property, food and agriculture, environmental, and human rights law.
The narrative of the international trade and intellectual property instruments,
buttressed by the liberal rhetoric of property, is one of long-term, sustainable,
economic and social development, although the strength of this argument is
increasingly challenged. This thesis adds to the body of critical literature by
exploring the socio-economic impact of the current regulatory regime on a
vulnerable farming community growing genetically modified cotton in KwaZulu
Natal, South Africa. The thesis questions whether greater limitations on
proprietary rights in modern biotechnology would improve matters.
The outcome of the study (completed in 2009) of these vulnerable cotton
farmers implicates the IP-protected technology in the destruction of many
livelihoods and in the stifling of technology transfer to aid local innovation. The
thesis acknowledges the negative role played by other external factors, such
as low rain fall, but suggests that some seemingly external factors, such as
poor agricultural policy, and falling world prices for cotton, are consequences
of the prevailing regime. The thesis proposes that this regime overly prioritises
private rights at too high a social cost. In order to rein in these rights the thesis
argues, through the lens of the South African Constitution, for law and policy
reform.
On a theoretical level, the property concept, including the notion of
excludability, the idea of common and public property, sovereign rights, and
the public trust doctrine are explored as mechanisms within the property
paradigm to aid the case for limiting proprietary rights.
We study a model of innovation with a large number of firms that create new technologies by combining several discrete ideas. These ideas are created via private investment and spread between firms. Firms face a choice between secrecy, which protects existing intellectual property, and openness, which facilitates learning from others. Their decisions determine interaction rates between firms, and these interaction rates enter our model as link probabilities in a learning network. Higher interaction rates impose both positive and negative externalities, as there is more learning but also more competition. We show that the equilibrium learning network is at a critical threshold between sparse and dense networks. At equilibrium, the positive externality from interaction dominates: the innovation rate and welfare would be dramatically higher if the network were denser. So there are large returns to increasing interaction rates above the critical threshold. Nevertheless, several natural types of interventions fail to move the equilibrium away from criticality. One effective policy solution is to introduce informational intermediaries, such as public innovators who do not have incentives to be secretive. These intermediaries can facilitate a high-innovation equilibrium by transmitting ideas from one private firm to another.
This paper decomposes the factors that govern the access and sharing of machine-generated industrial data in the artificial intelligence era. Through a mapping of the key technological, institutional, and firm-level factors that affect the choice of governance structures, this study provides a synthesised view of AI data-sharing and coordination mechanisms. The question to be asked here is whether the hitherto de facto control—bilateral contracts and technical solution-dominating industrial practices in data sharing—can handle the long-run exchange needs or not.
Bu çalışmada bilgi ve finans arasındaki ilişki yükselen Avrupa ülkelerine dayalı olarak 1997-2017 dönemi için incelenmiş, bu doğrultuda değişkenler arasındaki eşbütünleşme ve nedensellik ilişkileri değerlendirilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, seriler eşbütünleşiktir ve uzun dönemde birlikte hareket etmektedir. Romanya’da Ar-Ge faaliyetleri ile finansal gelişme arasında çift yönlü nedensellik ilişkisi bulunurken Türkiye’de ekonomik karmaşıklık ile finansal gelişme arasında çift yönlü nedensellik ilişkisi mevcuttur. Ayrıca Macaristan, Polonya, Romanya, Rusya ve Ukrayna’da finansal gelişmeden ekonomik karmaşıklığa; Polonya’da finansal gelişmeden Ar-Ge faaliyetlerine; Romanya’da finansal gelişmeden patent başvurusuna; Türkiye ve Ukrayna’da patent başvurusundan finansal
gelişmeye doğru tek yönlü nedensellik söz konusudur.
WTO Law and Policy presents an authoritative account of the emergence of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the basic principles and institutional law of the WTO. It explores how political economy has shaped the WTO’s legal philosophy and policies, and provides insights into how international trade law at the WTO has developed.
This textbook examines the legal obligations of the Member States of the WTO under the multilateral trade agreements, the legal remedies available under the rules-based dispute settlement system, and incorporates the most relevant case laws from the WTO’s jurisprudence. It outlines several key contemporary issues which the WTO faces as well as areas that need reforming. Each chapter covers a specific topic in relation to the framework and functionality of the WTO, with particular focus on the legal aspects of the multilateral trade order. The book is guided by the legal pronouncements of the Dispute Settlement Body (Panels and Appellate Body), and the commentaries on the interpretation of the provisions of the covered agreements.
This book is ideal for all students studying international trade law, including those coming to international law, international trade law, and WTO law for the first time.
Computerized reasoning may incredibly build the productivity of the current economy. Yet, it might have a considerably bigger effect by filling in as another universally useful "technique for development" that can reshape the idea of the advancement cycle and the association of R&D. We recognize mechanization situated applications, for example, mechanical technology and the potential for ongoing improvements in "profound learning" to fill in as a universally useful technique for innovation, tracking down solid proof of a "shift" in the significance of utilization arranged learning research beginning around 2009. We recommend that this is probably going to prompt a critical replacement away from more routinized work serious exploration towards research that exploits the interchange between latently produced huge datasets and improved expectation calculations. Simultaneously, the possible business compensations from dominating this method of exploration are probably going to introduce a time of dashing, driven by strong motivators for individual organizations to secure and control basic huge datasets and application-explicit calculations. We propose that strategies which energize straightforwardness and sharing of center datasets across both public and private entertainers might be basic devices for invigorating exploration efficiency and development arranged contest going ahead.
Recent experience with COVID-19 has reminded us of the importance of scientific progress in enabling pharmaceutical innovation. Developing novel therapies is a highly risky but rewarding process: it not only produces innovative drugs, but also valuable scientific knowledge that benefits the community of innovators. This paper examines whether the existing reward system for pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) leads to socially optimal levels of scientific knowledge generation and sharing, with a particular focus on the value of failures in the pharmaceutical R&D efforts. We first outline a conceptual approach based on the idea that pharmaceutical R&D efforts produce both medicines and scientific knowledge, and illustrate this with some examples of how failures may generate information beneficial to concurrent and subsequent R&D efforts. We then summarize the relatively small literature on failures in pharmaceutical R&D and their impact on R&D decision making. Lastly, we discuss several market-based and nonmarket-based policy approaches that can address potential shortcomings in the current reward system which may lead to suboptimal R&D and knowledge sharing.
Les brevets en tant que savoir nouveau et inventif alimentent les processus d’innovation : l’organisation et le soutien des capacités inventives des entreprises joueraient donc un rôle majeur. Comment les brevets pourraient-ils alors nous apprendre ce qu'est l’activité inventive et plus largement une gestion des capacités inventives ? Il existe une littérature abondante sur le phénomène de l’invention technique (histoire, psychologie, sociologie, philosophie) mais pourtant le lien entre ce phénomène et l’émergence d’un droit spécifique de l’invention, nommément le droit du brevet, est peu abordé. Dans cette thèse, nous considérons que l’apparition des institutions brevets marque l’émergence d’une norme de gestion associée à l’activité inventive. En étudiant cette norme de gestion et les acteurs de l’écosystème associé (examinateurs de brevets, conseils en propriété industrielle), la thèse se propose donc de questionner le rapport entre brevet et activité inventive. Par une étude des critères de brevetabilité, des pratiques d’examen et de la structure de la classification brevets, la thèse montre l’existence de quatre régimes d’invention technique, stabilisant pour certaines périodes une certaine structure de l’état de l’art (classification) permettant de distinguer les apports techniques des inventeurs. Ce travail révèle également le rôle d’une classe d’acteurs particuliers, les Conseils en Propriété Industrielle, en caractérisant une capacité propre au raisonnement inventif : la capacité de discernement. La thèse explore alors comment outiller cette capacité et les impacts d’une telle capacité pour la gestion des capacités inventives.
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