Patents and cumulative innovation: causal evidence from the courts

Galasso, Alberto and Schankerman, Mark ORCID: 0009-0006-1071-7672 (2013) Patents and cumulative innovation: causal evidence from the courts. CEP Discussion Papers (CEPDP1205). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Cumulative innovation is central to economic growth. Do patent rights facilitate or impede such follow-on innovation? This paper studies the effect of removing patent protection through court invalidation on the subsequent research related to the focal patent, as measured by later citations. We exploit random allocation of judges at the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit to control for the endogeneity of patent invalidation. We find that patent invalidation leads to a 50 percent increase in subsequent citations to the focal patent, on average, but the impact is highly heterogeneous. Patent rights appear to block follow-on innovation only in the technology fields of computers, electronics and medical instruments. Moreover, the effect is entirely driven by invalidation of patents owned by large patentees that triggers entry of small innovators, suggesting that patents may impede the ‘democratization’ of innovation.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	http://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/series.asp?...
Additional Information:	© 2013 The Authors
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General) T Technology > T Technology (General) > T201 Patents. Trademarks
JEL classification:	K - Law and Economics > K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior > K41 - Litigation Process O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O34 - Intellectual Property Rights: National and International Issues
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2013 09:02
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2024 03:18
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/51539

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