Patent - Publications - Faculty & Research

2009
Working Paper

Anticommons and Optimal Patent Policy in a Model of Sequential Innovation

By: Gaston Llanes and Stefano Trento

We present a model of sequential innovation in which an innovator uses several research inputs to invent a new good. These inputs, in turn, must be invented before they can be used by the final innovator. As a consequence, the degree of patent protection affects the... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Revenue; Policy; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Research; Motivation and Incentives

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05 Dec 2013
Op-Ed

Encourage Breakthrough Health Care by Competing on Products Rather Than Patents

individual's BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes," but the Court, wisely I believe, made thoughtful distinctions about what is and is not patentable, deciding that, "A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent... View Details

Keywords: by Richard G. Hamermesh; Biotechnology; Health

June 2022
Article

The Use and Misuse of Patent Data: Issues for Finance and Beyond

By: Josh Lerner and Amit Seru

Patents and citations are powerful tools for understanding innovation increasingly used in financial economics (and management research more broadly). Biases may result, however, from the interactions between the truncation of patents and citations and the changing... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Analytics and Data Science; Corporate Finance; Research

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05 Dec 2013
News

Encourage Breakthrough Health Care by Competing on Products Rather Than Patents

June 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Epistar and the Global LED Market

By: Willy C. Shih, Chen-Fu Chien and Hung-Kai Wang

It took BJ Lee many years to learn how to navigate the patent minefield that was the global LED industry. When his company was first spun off from the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan, he thought the essence of a good IP strategy was to develop a... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property Management; Patenting; Patent Litigation; Intellectual Property; Patents; Electronics Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Asia; United States; Japan; Taiwan

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2017
Working Paper

The Use and Misuse of Patent Data: Issues for Corporate Finance and Beyond

By: Josh Lerner

Patents and citations are powerful tools for understanding innovative activity inside the firm and are increasingly used in corporate finance research. But due to the complexities of patent data collection and the changing spatial and industry composition of innovative... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Analytics and Data Science; Corporate Finance; Research; Problems and Challenges

Citation

2007
Article

Business Methods Patents as Real Options: Value and Disclosure as Drivers of Litigation

By: Atul Nerkar, Srikanth Paruchuri and Mukti Khaire

This paper proposes that patents are real options that allow holders of patents the right but not the obligation to sue others. We suggest that the likelihood of a patent's being litigated is positively associated with the value of the patent and the extent of... View Details

Keywords: Value; Corporate Disclosure; Lawsuits and Litigation; Patents; Rights; Business Processes

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June 2007
Article

What Is the Impact of Software Patent Shifts? Evidence from Lotus v. Borland

By: Josh Lerner and Feng Zhu

Economists have debated the extent to which strengthening patent protection spurs or detracts from technological innovation. This paper examines the reduction of software copyright protection in the Lotus v. Borland decision. If patent and copyright protections are... View Details

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

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26 Mar 2020
News

Patent protection should take a backseat in a crisis

16 Jan 2014
News

A Way To Mitigate Smartphone Patent Litigation

March 2011
Article

To Join or Not to Join: Examining Patent Pool Participation and Rent Sharing Rules

By: Josh Lerner and Anne Layne-Farrar

In recognition that participation in modern patent pools is voluntary, we present empirical evidence on participation rates and the factors that drive the decision to join a pool, including the profit sharing rules adopted by the pool's founders. In most participation... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Alliances; Vertical Integration; Standards

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We investigate the effect of patent wars on firm strategy using data from the global smartphone market. In particular, we analyze how smartphone vendors not involved in patent litigation strategically respond to increased litigation risks in this industry. We find... View Details

27 Aug 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Market

Keywords: by Yongwook Paik & Feng Zhu; Legal Services

What Is the Impact of Software Patent Shifts? Evidence from Lotus v. Borland

Economists have debated the extent to which strengthening patent protection spurs or detracts from technological innovation. This paper examines the reduction of software copyright protection in the Lotus v. Borland decision. If patent and copyright protections... View Details