China’s Science and Technology Progress through the Lens of Patenting

This chapter assesses China’s science and technology (S&T) progress through the lens of the patenting literature in the context of China. In particular, after presenting an overview of China’s patent production over the past twenty-five years, it investigates the following questions: What accounts for China’s patent surge? What are the implications of the surge for patent quality? Does the nature of the patenting reveal China’s S&T direction and comparative advantage? How has the international sector affected China’s patent production? What has been the role of the government—the central, provincial, and local governments—in shaping patent production? And finally, how heterogeneous is China’s regional patent production; are patenting capabilities diffusing across China?

Effects of knowledge spillovers between competitors on patent quality: what patent citations reveal about a global duopoly

This paper analyses the effects on patent quality of a type of spillovers arising from the disclosure of patent information by firms engaged in competition in a global duopoly. Both firms are involved in producing new technologies and they do not cooperate on joint patents. In this context, we explored whether the disclosure of crucial knowledge in the patents of one of the firms affects the patent quality of its respective competitor. The empirical methodology relies on forward citations as an indicator of quality, and backward citations to the competitor as a measure of spillovers. We estimated several count models with a sample of 7750 patent families (divided into subsamples) owned by two large companies, Airbus and Boeing. Our econometric findings show that, for technologies in which the two firms account for the majority of the global patents, neither of the firms in the duopoly was able to harness spillovers from the rival to improve the quality of its patents. However, knowledge from the competitor becomes relevant, at least for one of the focal firms, in explaining patent quality of other technologies in which the two firms do not exert a dominant position.

Impact of Patent Infringement Compensation Rules on Patent Quality Problems

Compensation rules for patent infringement greatly affect patent quality, which is closely related to R & D investments. In this study, A duopoly game model was developed to analyze innovative factories’ R&D investment and patent licensing behavior, as well as the strategic choices of potential infringers under different compensation rules for patent infringement. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was conducted to analyze the patent quality under different scenarios, ultimately finalizing an optimal sequence rule for patent infringement compensation. The results show that patent quality is influenced by the invention height of patent and R&D efficiency, while the amount of patent infringement compensation has a great effect on potential infringement behavior. Patent quality can be effectively improved if the court adopts a proper sequence rule for patent infringement compensation according to the market circumstances.

how the quality of patents contributes to revitalising the innovation system?, evidence from the renewable energy sector

There is an intense discussion on the impact of the quality of patents on innovation and economic development. Consequently, measuring the quality of patents becomes an essential issue to understand how it affects the innovation system (IS). This paper shows a systematic review of patent quality indicators and their contribution to the literature. Additional to the systematic review, a dynamic behaviour hypothesis is developed to comprise how patent value indicators can be used to create a set of strategies to improve the innovation of the renewable energy sector. Our results show a novel framework for analysing the effects of patent value on the IS that could be useful for renewable energy diffusion in Latin-America.

Prescribing originality: investigating the impact of original knowledge on patent quality in the pharmaceutical sector

PurposeThis paper examines the relationship between the originality of a pharmaceutical innovation and its patent quality. Greater patent quality has been shown in the extant literature to enhance market value, which better enables firms to recoup research and development (R&D) expenditures incurred during the innovation process. Understanding how originality improves patent quality can assist policymakers, when determining the optimal length of pharmaceutical patent protection and/or market exclusivity.Design/methodology/approachThe relationship between originality and patent quality is empirically investigated using a tobit, as well as a zero-inflated negative binomial, estimation approach to account for prevalence of patents receiving zero forward citations. Moderating effects of joint innovation, innovation by a university researcher and innovation by an established innovator on originality are also considered.FindingsThere is a robust and positive relationship between patent originality and quality in the pharmaceutical sector. This relationship is positively moderated by joint patent ownership with a university. As such, innovators that target originality in new drug development (especially those collaborating with universities) should, according to extant literature, see greater increases in their market value.Originality/valuePolicymakers can use information on the originality of a new drug to discern the optimal length of market exclusivity needed to enable the innovator to recoup expenditures related to R&D. Better predictions of the timing for which firms can recoup R&D expenditures will equip policymakers with knowledge about the appropriate timing to introduce competition into the market, which is critical to reducing the price of pharmaceuticals to consumers.