Royalties, evolving patent rights, and the value of innovation

The value of an innovation to the innovator can change over time, especially in response to changes in the legal protection (such as patent rights) afforded the innovator. A proven-valid-and-infringed patent is a more valuable economic commodity than is an untested patent. The increase in value can be estimated using the success rate of patent lawsuits. Using a database of the outcomes of U.S. patent litigation, we find that plaintiffs win patent litigation some 45% of the time at the trial court level. This has implications both for patent damages awards and for the incentives to innovate.     

Citations backward and forward: Insights into the patent examiner's role

Examiners’ instructions and academic studies on patent validity determination focus on identification of “blocking” citations that invalidate claims in applications as non-novel or obvious, generally ignoring the non-blocking majority as irrelevant to validity. Recently available datasets allow us to identify, for the first time, “forward” citations received by applications before grant, as well as “backward” citations in those applications, and distinguish those identified by the examiner as blocking (submitted mainly by examiners), as well as non-blocking examiner and applicant citations. Categorical analysis confirms that blocking citations in an application strongly negatively predict its grant, but positively predict grant of the cited blocking applications. Non-blocking applicant and examiner citations in an application equally strongly predict its grant, but do not predict grant of cited applications. We test whether expected value – measured by applicant forward citations to the application prior to its grant – affects probability of grant, with negative results. These findings expand our understanding of the scope of examiners’ and applicants’ roles as mediators of validity-relevant information in applications.     

Testing patent value indicators on directly observed patent value—An empirical analysis of Ocean Tomo patent auctions

The valuation of patents is an important, albeit challenging task. Extant research to identify patent value indicators has so far relied on expert estimates of patent value, exploited patent renewal data, or depended on more indirect measures of patent value. Recently, specialized market places for patent transactions have emerged that allow us for the first time to directly observe patent's private value. One of the most prominent market places for patents is Ocean Tomo, a platform that offers periodical patent auctions. We make use of this auction data to empirically test predictions on patent value identifiers on real-world auction prices. We find empirical support for forward citations and the patent's family size; however, both indicators explain only a small variance in patent value. In contrast, our full model explains a large share of variance, making us optimistic that with increased directly observed patent value, such models can be useful tools in patent valuation.     

Structural modeling of the value of patent

There is a considerable volume of prior research on the relationship between innovation and patents. Those research studies reveal that patents contain a great deal of noise, and unless a correction is made in terms of the value of individual patents, a simple count of the number of patents does not constitute a very useful indicator. From research that has been conducted for the purpose of finding such an indicator to show the value of individual patents (that is, research to identify the characteristics of valuable patents), many kinds of value indicators have been proposed. Nevertheless, research hitherto has focused primarily on business or private value derived from the possession of patents, and little attention has been paid to value in terms of technical knowledge or social value. In a survey of inventors conducted by RIETI in 2007, terminology describing broad concepts was used when questioning inventors about the value of individual patents, and this has provided an excellent opportunity to analyze the multiple factors lying behind the value of patents and how they impact one another.The purpose of this research is to use data from the RIETI survey of inventors and structural equation modeling methods to elucidate the relationships between the technological and business value of patents, and the latent factors that influence them. The findings show that a scientific-technological motive for inventors would have a positive effect on both the business and technological value, meanwhile, the monetary or promotion motive would not have any direct effects on the value of a patent. The model also suggests that academic linkage would have a strong positive effect on the technological value but a weak negative effect on the business value. Furthermore, these relationships differ more markedly according to technological field.     

广西专利综合实力现状与对策研究

在解读《2012年全国专利实力状况报告》的基础上,分析研究了广西知识产权事业所取得的成就和问题,进而提出了建设"东盟知识产权特区"、"专利质押+专利保险"等对策建议。     

International patent protection: 1960-2005

This note provides an update to the index of patent protection published in this journal in 1997. The original paper presented the index for 1960-1990 for 110 countries. The index has now been updated to 2005 and extended to 122 countries. The adoption of stronger patent laws and the composition of patent rights vary across countries by level of economic development.     

Patent claims and patent scope

Patent scope is one of the important aspects in the debates over “patent quality.” The purported decrease in patent quality over the last decade or two has supposedly led to granting patents of increased breadth, decreased clarity, and questionable validity (in part due to over-breadth). Such patents allegedly diminish the incentives for innovation due to increased transaction costs in the market for technology, more frequent disputes and litigation, trolling behavior, and breakdowns in bargaining. This paper focuses on the patent examination process at the PTO, highlighting the relationship between patent scope and the patent examination process. We develop and validate two measurements of patent scope: independent claim length and independent claim count. These metrics—in contrast to other measurements of patent scope—can be calculated before and after examination and enable us to provide the first large-scale analysis of trends in patent scope changes during the examination process. Our results show that applications with narrower scope are associated with a higher probability of grant and a shorter and less intense examination period in comparison to applications with broader scope. Further, we find that the examination process itself tends to narrow the scope of patents relative to the scope at filing, and that the changes are more significant when the duration and intensity of examination is increased. We explain our metrics and make our data available in a public use dataset, which we hope will encourage more research in the evaluation of patent scope, patent examination, and patent quality more broadly.     

专利权质押融资的现状研究及对策建议

概述了专利权质押融资及其在我国近期经济建设发展中的机遇,分析了我国近期专利权质押融资发展的情况、发展特点和面临的挑战,并就如何发展完善专利产权质押融资机制提出了相应的对策建议。     

The private value of software patents

We investigate the value creation or destruction associated with the introduction of software patents in the United States in two ways. The first looks at the cumulative abnormal returns to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms around the time of important court decisions that impacted software patents, and the second analyzes the relationship between firms’ stock market value, the sector in which they operate, and their holdings of software patents. We conclude that the market evaluated software patents as a negative development ex ante. Ex post, a greater number of firms in all ICT sectors invested in these patents, and these firms had slightly higher market values than those with no software patents. However, while we obtain clear evidence that the technological importance or quality of patented innovation mattered for the market value of hardware firms both before and after the legal changes, it is less clear that the marginal patent right per se was associated with increases in market value, and there are no significant valuation effects associated with patents for pure software firms after the change.     

知识产权保护视阈下的中药专利研究现状及对策研究

以知识产权保护为视角,通过对国内2011年至今中药专利研究领域的期刊文献进行研究分析,为促进国内中药专利的科学长远发展提供一些借鉴。双向聚类结果显示国内中药专利研究可归纳为4大聚类热点：中药知识产权保护研究、中药复方的知识产权保护研究、中药专利质量研究和中药专利技术创新研究等。加强中药专利保护,不仅形成中药各类技术领域的知识产权,同时也要运用知识产权强化中药技术的传承,以及保护和开展中药知识产权保护研究等。     

What determines patent value?: Insights from the semiconductor industry

This paper contributes to an understanding which impacts certain patent characteristics have on the value of patent rights. In an exploratory study, 127 individual patents from a semiconductor company were evaluated comprehensively by technical and marketing representatives. The analysis of this rare data shows that for patents used as “bargaining chips”, novelty and inventive activity are most important. Difficulty of inventing around and disclosure turn out to be of limited importance. Due to a selection bias the influence of patent age on its value cannot be determined. The results hint at a differentiated theoretical plausibility of value indicators.     

广东省高校专利运营能力情报分析——以专利运营能力前10所高校为例

从专利情报分析的角度,从定量和定性两方面分析广东省高校专利运营能力较强的前10所高校运营情况,包括专利运营总体趋势、专利转让时间特征和地域分布、技术热点分布和被引频次等。研究结果表明,该10所高校的专利运营能力已经走在全国高校前列,但仍需进一步完善专利运用体制建设、培育高价值专利、促进科技成果转化,在广东省乃至全国高校的专利运营中起到引领示范作用。     

专利竞赛中的租值消散分析

从专利的保护成本和专利质量角度观察,专利中存在大量的租值消散现象。针对专利研发的参与权没有清楚界定,通过引入标准的租值消散模型来分析科研活动(尤其是专利研发竞赛)中的租值消散问题。研究发现,专利制度本身存在不少降低租值消散的因素:专利研发中的复杂性、随机性、不可预测性,以及参与者研究能力、所用设备要求、机会成本等方面的较大差异。通过对照理论模型和事实,对如何进一步减少专利制度中的租值消散提出政策建议。     

Academic versus industry patenting: An in-depth analysis of what determines patent value

This paper compares corporate and academic patents and tests whether they have similar value distributions and share common determinants of value. The empirical results based on an in-depth analysis of 400 biotech patents applied for by Belgian universities and firms lead to the following observations: (i) academic and corporate patent value distributions have similar levels of ‘skewness’; (ii) the identification of the institutional origin of knowledge allows for an improved understanding of the value determinants and (iii) there is a need to stimulate star scientists to codify their tacit knowledge into valuable patents.     

黄河流域水权制度的问题、挑战和对策

流域水权制度建设是黄河水沙关系调节的关键。本文基于中国水权制度建设框架,回顾了黄河流域水权制度的发展过程,分析了存在的问题和面临的挑战,并提出了完善黄河流域水权制度的建议。黄河流域是中国现代水权制度建设的典范,通过自发和问题驱动机制,流域制定了水量分配方案、开展了水量调度、探索了水权转换和进行了水权明晰。但流域水权制度建设没有完成,存在用水计划没有灵活性、用户没有选择性、交易没有市场以及调度取代取水许可管理等问题。同时,水权制度还面临40年来流域经济、社会和生态环境的剧烈变化,以及水资源量、用水结构和水沙关系的根本性转变。最后,建议黄河流域进一步明晰水权、建立生态和环境水权、构建水权交易机制、转变机构职能和进一步推进水资源监测、计量和管理系统建设。     

医学样本提供者的知情权与专利收益分享权——基因医学研究中一个亟待解决的重要问题

 基因医学研究的前提必须是充分信息、自愿同意和收益分享,而决不能以医学治疗的名义,以科学研究的名义或者以故意隐瞒的方式。政府有必要通过立法,保证医学样本提供者在拥有充分信息的条件下,自愿行使知情同意权和知情选择权。作为提供医学样本的补偿,他们有理由获得相关的专利收益分享权。具体的分享比例应该在平等互利的基础上,按照规定、惯例或者政府认可的其他协商方式最终确定。     

水权赋权依据与水权分类

本文首先对国内外现存的水权制度进行分析,探讨了现有的水权赋权依据与水权分类现状。然后对水权赋权的相关概念进行了阐述,包括水权的内涵、水权赋权的含义以及对水资源进行赋权的必要性。在此基础上,结合水权赋权的历史事实,本文详细探讨了水权赋权的理论依据,包括赋权的人类伦理依据以及具体的赋权依据。其中,人类伦理依据是水权赋权必须遵守的最根本的依据,要划分出基本的水权类型,还需要将理论依据转化为可操作的、具体的赋权依据。基于确定的水权赋权依据,突破了将水权简单地划分为河岸权、优先权等类型的认识,将水权更为全面地划分为五种基本类型,即河岸权、优先占用权、轮水权、需求权重水权以及生态水权,并分析了不同水权类型各自的特点。通过对水权赋权的依据和水权的基本分类进行深入研究,可以为水权制度的建立和改革提供理论依据。     

基于潜在维权成本的专利价值评估研究

基于逆向思维的方式,把专利侵权判定和规避设计密切关联的潜在维权成本作为依据,用于专利价值的初期评估。实证分析表明潜在维权成本评估法具有可靠性和适用性,初评结果为潜在高价值专利开展针对性的深度评估提供依据,利于节约评估资源和提高评估效率。     

专利权转让与许可视角下生物医药领域高校专利转化的现状研究

科技创新驱动发展的本质是自主知识产权的高质量创造和有效运用,我国高校作为技术创新的重要载体,其专利转化率低是不争的事实。文章立足生物医药领域,检索分析转让和许可这两种主要的高校专利转化形式的相关专利数据,研究提示目前该领域高校专利转化率仍偏低,但处于持续上升态势;转让在其中居主导地位,且未来仍可能持续保持该现状。同时,已有南京大学等转化水平较高的高校,其共同特点是自建知识产权运营机构或与校外相关机构密切合作;当前国家高度重视高校技术转化的支持服务体系构建,高校应充分利用政策宏利,提升技术转化能力。此外,转让与许可二者各有优劣,基于医药领域的复杂技术特性,高校选择专利转化策略时应结合目的、技术特性、企业情况等综合权衡。