TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sakakibara,Mariko
AU  - Branstetter,Lee
TI  - Do Stronger Patents Induce More Innovation?  Evidence from the 1988 Japanese Patent Law Reforms
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7066
PY  - 1999
Y2  - April 1999
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7066
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7066.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Mariko Sakakibara
Anderson Graduate School of Management
UCLA
110 Westwood Plaza, Suite B508
Los Angeles, CA  90095-1481
Tel: 310/825-7831;  mariko.sakakibara@anderson.ucla.edu
E-Mail: mariko.sakakibara@anderson.ucla.edu

Lee G. Branstetter
Heinz College
School of Public Policy and Management
Department of Social and Decision Sciences
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA  15213
Tel: 412/268-4649
E-Mail: branstet@andrew.cmu.edu
AB  - Does an expansion of patent scope induce more innovative effort by firms?  This article provides evidence on this question by examining firm responses to the Japanese patent reforms of 1988. Interviews with practitioners suggest the reforms significantly expanded the scope of patent rights in Japan, but that the average response in terms of additional R&D effort and innovative output was quite modest.  Interviews also suggest that firm organizational structure is an important determinant of the level of response.  Econometric analysis using Japanese and U.S. patent data on 307 Japanese firms confirms that the magnitude of the response is quite small.
ER  -