Introduction to Patents
4 important questions on Introduction to Patents
What contains 'appropriating returns from R&D investment'? (3)
- Knowledge generated by R&D is nontrivial and difficult to fully appropriate
- Which leads to underinvestment in R&D, causes market failure
- One public policy response is to introduce a patent system
What is the theory of 'patents as incentives for corporate R&D'? (2)
- Patents grant temporary monopoly over inventions; firms compete after patents expire
- Patents involve a tradeoff between the static inefficiency of monopoly and the dynamic efficiency innovation
What are challenges with patents as incentives for corporate R&D with regards to effectiveness (3)
- Another challenge is that patents may be ineffective in some industries
- Firms may prefer secrecy
- that is, to keep the inventions secret since patenting them would imply sharing knowledge with everyone
- Firms may also prefer first mover or lead time advantages
- that is, implement the inventions early and benefit from complementary assets such as manufacturing and marketing capabilities
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About 'are patents effective?', what is the conclusion of the Lerner study?
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