The economic value of patented inventions: Thoughts and some open questions

The economic value of upstream research outcomes has raised increasing attention. Not only are these outcomes central to the development of many innovations, but they are also the object of many transactions in technology. This note discusses a few representative papers that try to better understand the value of patented inventions. It deals with three topics: the value of patent rights, the value of patents as quality signals, and the value of patented inventions as a whole. In the latter case, it focuses on the creation of value through the number of inventions produced rather than increase in the value of individual invention. The note also sketches open questions for future research.