TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hall,Bronwyn H.
AU  - Graham,Stuart J.H.
AU  - Harhoff,Dietmar
TI  - Prospects for Improving U.S. Patent Quality via Post-grant Opposition
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9731
PY  - 2003
Y2  - May 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9731
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9731.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Bronwyn H. Hall
Dept. of Economics
549 Evans Hall
UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-3880
Tel: 510/642-3878
Fax: 510/548-5561
E-Mail: bhhall@nber.org

Stuart Graham
College of Management
Georgia Institute of Technology
800 West Peachtree Street, N.W.
Atlanta, GA  30332
E-Mail: Stuart.Graham@USPTO.GOV

Dietmar Harhoff
Institute for Innovation Research
Munich School of Management
University of Munich
Kaulbachstrasse 45
D-80539 Munich, Germany
E-Mail: harhoff@bwl.uni-muenchen.de
M1  - published as Bronwyn H. Hall, Stuart Graham, Dietmar Harhoff, David C. Mowery. "Prospects for Improving U.S. Patent Quality via Postgrant Opposition," in Adam B. Jaffe, Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, editors, "Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 4" The MIT Press (2004)

AB  - The recent surge in U.S. patenting and expansion of patentable subject matter has increased patent office backlogs and raised concerns that in some cases patents of insufficient quality or with inadequate search of prior art are being issued. At the same time patent litigation and its costs are rising. This paper explores the potential of a post-grant review process modeled on the European opposition system to improve patent quality, reveal overlooked prior art, and reduce subsequent litigation. We argue that the welfare gains to such a system may be substantial.
ER  -