@techreport{NBERw5063,
 title = "Product Development and the Timing of Information Disclosure under U.S.and Japanese Patent Systems",
 author = "Reiko Aoki and Thomas J. Prusa",
 institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research",
 type = "Working Paper",
 series = "Working Paper Series",
 number = "5063",
 year = "1995",
 month = "March",
 URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w5063",
 abstract = {This paper examines the consequences of the differences in the timing of information disclosure between the U.S. and Japanese patent systems.  Under the Japanese system it is possible for a firm to apply for a patent knowing the exact specifications of a rival's patent application.  In contrast, in the U.S. the only way a firm learns about a rival's innovation is upon the actual granting of the rival's patent.  We argue that this difference enables Japanese firms to coordinate their R&D efforts better than their U.S. counterparts and that this, in turn, leads to smaller quality improvements under the Japanese system.  We show that the creation/diffusion tradeoff of patents can be influenced not only by the scope and length of patent protection but also by other features of the patenting process.},
}