Publications

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

September 2024
Article

Standing on the Shoulders of Science

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Monika Schnitzer and Martin Watzinger

Today’s innovations rely on scientific discoveries of the past, yet only some corporate R&D builds directly on scientific output. In this paper, we analyze U.S. patents to investigate how firms generate value by building on prior art “closer” to science. We show... View Details

Keywords: Patent Novelty; Value Capture; Science; Patents; Valuation; Research and Development

2012
Article

Patent Policy, Patent Pools, and the Accumulation of Claims in Sequential Innovation

By: Gaston Llanes and Stefano Trento

We present a dynamic model where the accumulation of patents generates an increasing number of claims on sequential innovation. We compare innovation activity under three regimes—patents, no-patents, and patent pools—and find that none of them can reach the first best.... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Taxation; Innovation and Invention

1997
Chapter

Patent Scope and Emerging Industries: Biotechnology, Software, and Beyond

By: Josh Lerner and Robert P. Merges

Keywords: Patents; Applications and Software; Genetics; Information Technology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

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October 2021
Case

CrisisReady: Private Data for Public Good

By: Tarun Khanna and James Barnett

In October 2021, CRISISREADY.io considers how and if it should scale operations. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Ethics; Globalization; Governance; Government and Politics; Intellectual Property; Science; Technology

2014
Article

Are Patents Creative or Destructive?

By: Tom Nicholas

Current debate over patent aggregation has led to renewed interest in the long-standing question concerning whether patents are a creative or a destructive influence on the process of technological development. In this paper I examine the basic patent tradeoff between... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Incentives; Patents; Technological Innovation; Motivation and Incentives

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January 2014
Supplement

Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (C)

By: Richard Hamermesh and Lauren Barley

On September 11, 2013, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied St. Jude's request to rehear an appeal on the "double patenting" ruling for the '439 patent. Further, it removed the injunction threat that was hanging over the... View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices; Vascular Closure Device; Patent Litigation; Patenting; Biomedical Research; Biotechnology; Biotech; Technological Innovation; Patents; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry; United States

October 2013 (Revised January 2014)
Supplement

Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Lauren Barley

It was January 2013, and Fred Khosravi, chairman of the board of AccessClosure Inc., wondered what the new year had in store for him and AccessClosure, the company he founded in late 2002. Khosravi was cautiously optimistic—the Mountain View, California-based medical... View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices; Vascular Closure Device; Patent Litigation; Patenting; Biomedical Research; Biotechnology; Biotech; Technological Innovation; Patents; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry; United States; California

14 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Capturing Value from IP in a Global Environment

Keywords: by Juan Alcácer, Karin Beukel, and Bruno Cassiman

August 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Pandora: Royalties Kill the Web Radio Star? (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Alex Curtis Rosenfeld

Joe Kennedy, president and CEO of Pandora, one of the largest and most popular web (Internet) radio broadcasters, had just received bad news. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) had announced its decision to increase the royalties required to be paid by the web radio... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Copyright; Laws and Statutes; Rights; Internet and the Web; Media and Broadcasting Industry

01 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 1

sought to bring under its banner key intellectual property (IP) from the nascent field of stem cell technology. As such, iZumi would need to acquire the rights to several... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

Working PapersContracting in the Self-reporting Economy (revised) Authors:Romana L. Autrey and Richard Sansing Abstract This paper examines the effect of accounting on the use of intellectual property. We analyze the licensing of View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Larissa Bifano

Larissa S. Bifano concentrates on patent and other intellectual property strategy, counseling, prosecution, diligence, and litigation in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and federal courts. She... View Details

Profile

Andrew Boudreau

Andy heard a campus speaker talk about the 2+2 program for college students interested in the HBS MBA. Andy applied, got in, and spent the next two years expanding his work experience, first with a consulting firm that investigated the litigious aspects of View Details

December 2019
Article

Patent Trolls: Evidence from Targeted Firms

By: Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers

We provide the first large-sample evidence on the behavior and impact of nonpracticing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual-property space. We find that, on average, NPEs appear to behave as opportunistic “patent trolls.” NPEs sue cash-rich firms and target cash in... View Details

Keywords: Patent Trolls; Innovation; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ethics; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

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August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Background Note

Note on Comparative Treatment of Business Method and Software Patents in the United States and European Union

By: Robert C. Pozen and Felicia Ellsworth

This note analyses and compares the legal definitions and practical applications of Business Method and Software Patents in the United States and European Union. View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Patents; Business Processes; United States; European Union

2007
Working Paper

Noncompetes and Inventor Mobility: Specialists, Stars, and the Michigan Experiment

Several scholars have documented the positive consequences of job-hopping by inventors, including knowledge spillovers and agglomeration and the concentration of spinoffs. This work investigates a possible antecedent of inventor mobility: regional variation in the... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Laws and Statutes; Intellectual Property; Innovation and Invention; Michigan

2008
Working Paper

Applicant and Examiner Citations in U.S. Patents: An Overview and Analysis

By: Juan Alcacer, Michelle Gittelman and Bhaven Sampat

Researchers studying innovation increasingly use indicators based on patent citations. However, it is well known that not all citations originate from applicants—patent examiners contribute to citations listed in issued patents—and that this could complicate... View Details

Keywords: Citations; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Research; United States