Introduction to Patents

4 important questions on Introduction to Patents

What contains 'appropriating returns from R&D investment'? (3)

  • Knowledge generated by R&D is nontrivial and difficult to fully appropriate
  • Which leads to underinvestment in R&D, causes market failure
  • One public policy response is to introduce a patent system


What is the theory of 'patents as incentives for corporate R&D'? (2)

  • Patents grant temporary monopoly over inventions; firms compete after patents expire
  • Patents involve a tradeoff between the static inefficiency of monopoly and the dynamic efficiency innovation


What are challenges with patents as incentives for corporate R&D with regards to effectiveness (3)

  • Another challenge is that patents may be ineffective in some industries
  • Firms may prefer secrecy
    • that is, to keep the inventions secret since patenting them would imply sharing knowledge with everyone
  • Firms may also prefer first mover or lead time advantages
    • that is, implement the inventions early and benefit from complementary assets such as manufacturing and marketing capabilities
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About 'are patents effective?', what is the conclusion of the Lerner study?

Lerner concludes that there is little evidence that stronger patent laws result in increases in R&D investments, as measured by patent filings

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