Win, lose or draw? the fate of patented inventions

Title: Win, lose or draw? the fate of patented inventions
Format: Journal Article
Publication Date: September 2016
Published In: Research Policy
Description: © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Using information from a survey of US inventors, this study explores the reasons for patent non-use and different types of non-use at the patent level, and how this varies by industry and firm characteristics. We find that 55% of triadic patents are commercialized. We also find that 17% of all triadic patents are not commercialized but are at least partially for preemption, though only 3% of all triadic patents are purely preemptive patents. We find that preemptive non-use is less common than failed patents. We then test the discriminating effects of patent effectiveness, competition, firm size and fragmentation of patent rights on the likelihood of preemptive patents. We find that greater patent effectiveness, more competition, and large firm size are associated with greater preemptive non-use relative to commercial use of patents. We conclude with the policy implications of our results.
Ivan Allen College Contributors:
Citation: Research Policy. 45. Issue 7. 1362 - 1373. ISSN 0048-7333. DOI 10.1016/j.respol.2016.03.020.
Related Departments:
  • School of Public Policy