TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lo,Shih-tse
AU  - Sutthiphisal,Dhanoos
TI  - Does it Matter Who Has the Right to Patent: First-to-invent or First-to-file? Lessons From Canada
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14926
PY  - 2009
Y2  - April 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14926
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14926.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Shi-Tse Lo
McGill University
E-Mail: shih-tse.lo@mcgill.ca

Dhanoos Sutthiphisal
McGill University
Department of Economics
855 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, QC H3A 2T7
CANADA
Tel: 514/398-5500
Fax: 514/398-4938
E-Mail: dhanoos.sutthiphisal@mcgill.ca
AB  - A switch to a first-to-file patent regime from its first-to-invent system has become imminent for the U.S. To learn about probable effects of such a policy change, we examine a similar switch that occurred in Canada in 1989. We find that the switch failed to stimulate Canadian R&D efforts. Nor did it have any effects on overall patenting. However, the reforms had a small adverse effect on domestic-oriented industries and skewed the ownership structure of patented inventions towards large corporations, away from independent inventors and small businesses. These findings challenge the merits of adopting a first-to-file patent regime.
ER  -