TY  - JOUR
AU  - Schankerman,Mark
TI  - How Valuable is Patent Protection? Estimates By Technology Field Using  Patent Renewal Data
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3780
PY  - 1991
Y2  - July 1991
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3780
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3780.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Mark Schankerman
Department of Economics, R.516
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
UK
Tel: 442079557518
E-Mail: M.Schankerman@lse.ac.uk
AB  - This paper presents quantitative estimates of the private value of property rights conferred by patent protection for different technology fields and countries of ownership. The measures are derived from parametric estimation of a model of patent renewal, using a new data set on patent renewals in France during the period 1969-1987. The results show that patent protection is a significant, but not the major, source of private returns to inventive activity and that its importance varies sharply across technology fields. The paper quantifies the equivalent subsidy to R&D generated by the patent system, characterizes variations in the value of patent rights across technology fields, countries of ownership and time, and explores the determinants of those differences.
ER  -