Publications

March 2010
Article

The Role of Independent Invention in U.S. Technological Development, 1880-1930

By: Tom Nicholas

Why did independent inventors account for over half of US patents by 1930 and more than three times the number granted to R&D firms? Using new data on patents and historical patent citations, I show that independents supplied high quality innovations to a... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Patents; Urban Scope; Independent Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; United States

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14 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 14

capitalize on its innovation: strengthening antitrust and intellectual property rights enforcement; improving the legal infrastructure (e.g., producing more corporate lawyers); lowering barriers to entry for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 26

Evidence from Targeted Firms By: Cohen, Lauren, Umit G. Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers Abstract—We provide theoretical and empirical evidence on the evolution and impact of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Can China Maintain Its Economic Power?

for continuous innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship under a system of government that isn’t known for welcoming disruption. The government’s hyperfocus on intellectual property protection can also... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg

23 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 23

Principles that Matter: Sustaining Software Innovation from the Client to the Web Author:Marco Iansiti Abstract Economic analysis often reviews the role of principles—such as respect for intellectual View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2011 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (Abridged)

By: Anita Elberse

The management team of Marvel Enterprises, known for its universe of superhero characters that includes Spider-Man, the Hulk, and X-Men, must reevaluate its marketing strategy. In June 2004, only six years after the company emerged from bankruptcy, Marvel has amassed a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Intellectual Property; Rights; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Opening Pandora's Box

By: Willy C. Shih, Stephen P. Kaufman, Melissa Marie Blakeley and Marissa Wairy Dent

Pandora.com provided a highly customizable online radio service tailored to listeners' musical preferences and had registered explosive growth since its September 2005 launch. But proposed changes in royalty rates threatened to kill off many Internet radio sites,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Intellectual Property; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

22 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 22

and impact of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual property space. Heterogeneity in innovation, given a cost of commercialization, results in NPEs that choose to act as "patent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 28

that had begun to dominate the worldwide solar industry. While accelerated growth was attractive to 1366 and its current investors, the company believed that it would face considerable risks if it were to expose its intellectual View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2024
Working Paper

The Value of AI Innovations

By: Wilbur Xinyuan Chen, Terrence Tianshuo Shi and Suraj Srinivasan

We study the value of AI innovations as it diffuses across general and application sectors, using the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) AI patent dataset. Investors value these innovations more than others, as AI patents exhibit a 9% value premium,... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Valuation; Technological Innovation; Open Source Distribution; Patents; Policy; Knowledge Sharing; Technology Industry

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2009
Working Paper

Breakthrough Inventions and Migrating Clusters of Innovation

By: William R. Kerr

We investigate the speed at which clusters of invention for a technology migrate spatially following breakthrough inventions. We identify breakthrough inventions as the top one percent of US inventions for a technology during 1975-1984 in terms of subsequent citations.... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Immigration; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Patents; Industry Clusters; United States

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28 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 28

Intellectual Property Protection By: Baldwin, Carliss Y., and Joachim Henkel Abstract—Modularity is a means of partitioning technical knowledge about a product or process. When state-sanctioned View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Sep 2016
First Look

September 13, 2016

of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual property space. Our model shows that NPE litigation can reduce infringement and support small inventors. However, the model also shows that as NPEs... View Details

03 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Healthcare Conference Looks At Ailing Industry

Integration, Not Intellectual Property The "great embarrassment" of twentieth-century medicine, despite its many strides, is that most therapeutics were directed at symptoms, not causes, said Eric... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

January 2011
Supplement

Matrix Capital Management (B)

By: Malcolm P. Baker and David Lane

Ben Balbale, a partner at hedge fund Matrix Capital, must decide whether to exit their investment in Rovi Corporation, a company with a diverse portfolio of patents used primarily for digital interactive guides. Rovi's shares are up over 50% from the time Balbale... View Details

Keywords: Public Ownership; Cash Flow; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Valuation; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Performance Efficiency; Patents; Stock Shares; Decisions; Financial Services Industry

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Historically Speaking: A Roundtable at HBS

among historians and scholars from other disciplines who are taking a historical approach to their work has demanded intellectual leadership. Al Chandler has provided that leadership for more than forty years. Early in his career, he... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

December 2009 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Sony and the JK Wedding Dance

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Executives at Sony Music Entertainment faced a dilemma: a user-generated video featuring controversial artist Chris Brown's music was netting millions of views per week on YouTube. Sony held the copyright to the song, and was entitled to issue a takedown notice to the... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Copyright; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet; Music Industry

March 2010 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd (Abridged)

The case describes two individuals who have met and are in the process of starting a company together. Each is still at his/her former employer, and each has signed a different employment agreement that, on paper, may prohibit some of the contemplated acts—i.e.,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Resignation and Termination; Intellectual Property; Law; Agreements and Arrangements