Daniel K. N. Johnson

Forced Out of the Closet: The Impact of the American Inventors Protection Act on the Timing of Patent Disclosure

Beginning in November 2000, patent applications filed in the United States are disclosed after 18 months, rather than when the patent is granted. Using U.S. patent data from 1976-1996, we find that major inventions are most likely to be affected, as they take longer to go through the application process. We provide evidence that this change will result in faster knowledge diffusion, and conclude with a simulation of the laws potential effect on patent grants.

Time in purgatory: Examining the grant lag for U.S. patent applications

Abstract As patent applications increase, and the range of patentable technologies increases, the length of time it takes for an invention to go through the examination process at the U.S. Patent Office has increased. Concerns over the distributional effects of these changes have been expressed during policy debates. We use data on U.S. patent applications and grants to ask who is affected by longer grant lags. We augment this analysis with interviews of patent examiners, leading to a better understanding of the examination process. Our analysis finds that differences across technology are most important. These differences do not erode over time, suggesting that learning effects alone will not reduce grant lags. Inventor characteristics have statistically significant effects, but the magnitudes are small.

Learning-by-Licensing: R&D and Technology Licensing in Brazilian Invention

This paper models the decision of a firm to engage in innovative activity and to protect the results of that activity. Using a unique firm-level dataset collected for this purpose, estimation indicates that the interactions between current R&D and past licensing are prime contributors to innovative success. A firms experience with technology licenses not only adds to the productivity of current R&D, but also affects whether a firm applies for full patent or utility model protection. Firm size, employee training and knowledge spillovers also have an impact on the inventive process.

Selling Ideas: The Determinants of Patent Value in an Auction Environment

Although previous empirical studies have found relationships between patent characteristics and value, none have determined how specific attributes relate to auction value or even the probability of a successful auction sale. Using a Heckman two-step model, we regress 13 independent variables against unique patent auction data, finding that publicly owned and frequently referenced patents are more valuable, and that other things being equal, there is an optimal time to offer a patent up for auction.

Introduction: Invention Input-Output Analysis

The papers in this issue are directed towards the development of invention input-output (I(IO)) coefficients. They discuss the procedures for creating I(IO) coefficients using the Yale Technology Concordance, which assigns patented inventions to the industry of manufacture and sector of use, utilizing the International Patent Class system. Tests of reliability of the I(Io) coefficients and their use in economic studies are reported.

Innovation and Invention in Canada

This paper compares innovation survey data with invention data as recorded by patents (and, therefore, the basis of the Yale Technology Concordance), presenting input-output tables for both data sets. We describe and compare the intersec-toral flows of technology from the industry of manufacture (IOM) to the sector of use (SOU); compare patent-to-innovation ratios by industry; and present correlations between innovation, invention and R&D by industy. One significant conclusion is that, while innovation and invention data are highly correlated in the IOM, they diverge on the SOU, especially in certain key industries that we identify.

Coming to Play or Coming to Win: Participation and Success at the Olympic Games

This paper investigates the post-War Summer Olympic Games in order to determine the economic and political determinants of national participation, and of female participation in particular. Success at the Games (i.e., medal counts) is then analyzed in two ways, from the individual level and the national level, showing similar results. Female participation is rising over time, augmented primarily by larger nations. There is a significant and measurable advantage to larger nations (both in GDP per capita and in population) in terms of participation and success at the Games. Furthermore, there are undeniable advantages to being the hosting nation, and to being a neighbor to the host. Equally striking is the fact that while there is no evidence of a bias of Communist and single-party governments to send more athletes to the Games, once there, the athletes of these nations perform exceptionally well. There is support for the hypothesis that colonial links make a difference, imparting a mixed blessing from the past. Predictions for participation and gold, silver and bronze medal counts by nation for the 2000 Sydney Games conclude the paper.

Private Agricultural Research

This chapter serves to assess the quantity and impact of private agricultural research in developing countries, alongside the policies which affect that research. To provide context, an outline of the history, size and structure of private research presents data on research expenditures by region, by agency, by crop and by industrial sector. Evidence on research inputs reflects not only the importance of private research, but also the wide national and regional differences in both inputs and implementation of programs. Research output and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection are also strikingly different across time and space, as seen in data on agricultural IPRs by region, by industrial origin, and by crop type. The diffusion of agricultural innovations among farmers is described using data on approvals of genetically modified crops, and on cultivated areas actually planted. Studies of the subsequent impacts of agricultural research show that private sector research is making an important contribution to agricultural productivity growth in some countries and could make an even larger impact if government policies were more favorable. The conclusion provides a review of economic and policy determinants affecting private incentives, and some policy prescriptions to encourage further investment.

The OECD Technology Concordance (OTC)

While patent data are now readily available for most nations, these data are still of minimal use for economic analysis due to their mode of presentation. Patents are recorded for administrative purposes using the International Patent Classification (IPC) system, which categorises inventions by product or process. Instead, most economic researchers and analysts are interested in the particular sectors of the economy responsible for the invention or its subsequent use. The OECD Technology Concordance (OTC) presented here, like its predecessor the Yale Technology Concordance, is a tool that bridges definitions, allowing researchers to transform IPC-based patent data into patent counts by sector of the economy. This paper presents the methodology, some sample output and empirical tests of the method. It should be noted that the methodological work on the distribution of patent data by industry at the OECD is an early stage and further improvement of the OTC is expected in the ... Il est facile aujourd’hui de se procurer des donnees sur les brevets dans la plupart des pays, mais leur mode de presentation leur enleve presque toute pertinence pour l’analyse economique. Les brevets sont enregistres a des fins administratives selon le systeme de Classification internationale des brevets (CIB), dans lequel les inventions sont regroupees par produits ou procedes. Par contre, la plupart des donnees et des analyses economiques portent sur les secteurs de l’economie a l’origine d’une invention ou sur ceux qui en sont les utilisateurs. A l’instar du Technology Concordance de Yale en usage avant lui, le Technology Concordance de l’OCDE (OTC) presente ici est un outil qui etablit un lien entre les deux logiques et permet aux chercheurs, a partir des donnees sur les brevets classees selon le systeme CIB, de repertorier les brevets par secteur economique. On trouvera dans le present document, la methodologie, quelques exemples d’application, et des essais empiriques de la ...

Biotechnology Inventions: What Can We Learn from Patents?

This paper explores several characteristics of patents in the biotechnology field, comparing and contrasting them to patents in other fields of research. We find that biotechnology patents face a longer lag between application and grant date, and their secrecy would be heavily affected if legislation were to permit publication 18 months after application. They are highly concentrated geographically, as well as in industrial origin, and are used most heavily in the health sector, but have a wider spread in use than in origin. They use many more (and much more recent) references than the average patent, with a special weight on academic or scientific literature, foreign patents, and a tight circle of research fields. While they are not cited frequently on average, their use as germplasm is rising. Future research should focus on the questions that have been uncovered.