Knowledge flows tend to be highly geographically localized. This has lead researchers to try to find a means through which this localization effect can be minimized. Foreign Direct Investment has been proposed as a possible medium that enhances the ability of nations to exchange knowledge about...

I introduce and analyze an equilibrium model of discovery, innovation, patenting and infringement. Firms that innovate must adapt complementary inputs, and are ex ante uncertain about whether adaptations will be costly and whether they will infringe other patents. If adaptation requires...

While records of the assignments (transactions) affecting US patents and patent applications have been maintained by the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) for over 40 years, few researchers have used them. To help remedy this deficiency, the USPTO Office of Chief Economist is releasing...

Aufgrund der bestehenden und sich weiter intensivierenden internationalen Konkurrenz in vielen Technologiebereichen und Branchen ist eine erhöhte Innovationsfähigkeit und Innovationstätigkeit als zentraler Erfolgsfaktor für die Unternehmen in Baden-Württemberg anzusehen. Im Rahmen des...

Although scientists have for decades now had the ability to manipulate matter at the atomic level, we have yet to see the nanotechnological revolution that these scientists predicted would follow. Despite the years of effort and billions of dollars that have been invested into research and...

We consider separately strategic entry and asymmetric information in the design of the settlement policy governing patent disputes, with a focus on Shapiro(2003)'s consumer protection rule. We show that, when a potential entrant strategically incurs an entry cost before engaging in a patent...

We study an infinite-horizon cumulative innovation model, in which patents are characterized bytheir length and the likelihood of being ruled valid in a patent infringement litigation. Strengtheningpatent protection via a greater validity or length has two opposing effects on innovation: 1)...

Licensors of patents essential to a standard are often required to license on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms. Using a model with owners of essential patents and licensees who invest into standard-conforming technologies, this paper demonstrates that the non-discriminatory...

Patent race models assume that an innovator wins the only patent covering a product. But when technologies are complex, this property right is defective: ownership of a product's technology is shared, not exclusive. In that case I show that if patent standards are low, firms build "thickets" of...

In a world of zero transaction costs, one should observe optimal invention and innovation. As long as a system of enforceable contracts were in place, firms with inventive capacity and firms requiring inventions would negotiate for the optimal production of new creations. With adequate...