Publications

2017
Working Paper

The Rise of American Ingenuity: Innovation and Inventors of the Golden Age

By: Ufuk Akcigit, John Grigsby and Tom Nicholas

We examine the golden age of U.S. innovation by undertaking a major data collection exercise linking inventors from historical U.S. patents to Federal Censuses between 1880 and 1940 and to regional economic aggregates. We provide a theoretical framework to motivate the... View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Patents; Economic Growth; Innovation and Invention; Demographics

November 1978 (Revised October 1989)
Case

Amicon Corp. (A)

Amicon holds a patent on a new process for the separation of blood plasma from whole blood. It has to decide whether to pursue a direct entry, joint venture, or licensing strategy. If it chooses licensing, there are many sub-issues to consider. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Patents; Commercialization; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry

June 1976 (Revised March 1984)
Case

Polaroid-Kodak

By: Norman A. Berg

Describes Kodak's long-awaited challenge to Polaroid in the field of instant photography. Provides technological and company background of both Polaroid and Eastman-Kodak and their respective product lines. Discusses Polaroid's claim that Kodak infringed on 10 Polaroid... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Patents; Competition; Product Development

23 Mar 2016
News

Building a Biotech Business from Farmed Fish

Holdings has been a very long development in aquaculture. What we have done is become an intellectual property company working with a large salmon grower—Cooke Aquaculture, based in St. John, New Brunswick.... View Details

22 Jan 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Financial Patent Quality: Finance Patents After State Street

Keywords: by Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon, Mark Baker & Andrew Speen; Financial Services

30 Nov 2007
Conference Presentation

The Ethnic Composition of US Inventors: Evidence Building from Ethnic Names in US Patents

By: William R. Kerr

Keywords: Ethnicity; Innovation and Invention; Patents; United States

04 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Some Facts of High-Tech Patenting

Keywords: by Michael Webb, Nick Short, Nicholas Bloom, and Josh Lerner

January 2012
Case

Calvin Klein and Warnaco Group: Negotiating a Trademark License

By: Susan Fournier, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, William W. Fisher III and Robert Mnookin

Keywords: Trademarks; Negotiation; Apparel and Accessories Industry

April 2002
Article

Where Does State Street Lead? A First Look at Finance Patents, 1971-2000

By: Josh Lerner

Keywords: Patents; Finance

06 Jan 2003
What Do You Think?

China: The Next Big Market Opportunity or the Next Big Bubble?

ineffective enforcement of intellectual property laws that may stifle China's transition from a manufacturing to a higher-value-added knowledge-based economy. Greg Durst cites both "Western... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 Apr 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Trade Secrets Protection and Antitakeover Provisions

Keywords: by Aiyesha Dey and Joshua White

July 2022
Article

Estimating Spillovers from Publicly Funded R&D: Evidence from the US Department of Energy

By: Kyle Myers and Lauren Lanahan

We quantify the magnitude of R&D spillovers created by grants to small firms from the US Department of Energy. Our empirical strategy leverages variation due to state-specific matching policies, and we develop a new approach to measuring both geographic and... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Energy; R＆D; Grants; Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Patents; Performance; United States

September 2013
Article

Prizes, Publicity, and Patents: Non-Monetary Awards as a Mechanism to Encourage Innovation

By: Petra Moser and Tom Nicholas

This paper exploits the selection of prize-winning technologies among exhibitors at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 to examine whether—and how—ex post prizes that are awarded to high-quality innovations may encourage future innovation. U.S. patent data... View Details

Keywords: Prizes; Innovation; Motivation and Incentives; Patents; Innovation and Invention

1997
Article

University versus Corporate Patents: A Window on the Basicness of Invention

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Adam Jaffe and Manuel Trajtenberg

Keywords: Higher Education; Patents; Innovation and Invention; Business Ventures

September 2007 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Syndexa and Technology Transfer at Harvard University

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron

Gokhan Hotamisligil is a star researcher at Harvard School of Public Health who has made groundbreaking discoveries linking fat cells, inflammation, and diabetes. He now wants to form a company to commercialize these discoveries. At the same time, Isaac Kohlberg, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Rights; Agreements and Arrangements; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

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