Patents have long been regarded as the ‘gold standard’ of intellectual property protection. In “Little patents and big secrets: managing intellectual property”, Anton and Yao (2004) call this traditional view into question by finding that firms keep their most important innovations...

Traditionally patents are seen as the gold standard for intellectual property protection. But, in line with empirical findings that secrecy is considered more important for appropriating returns, recent theories predict that firms keep their most important inventions secret. This article...

Recent empirical studies suggest a need for a ?exible patent regime responding to industry characteristics. In practice, sector-speci?c modi?cations of patent strength already exist but lack theoretical foundation. This paper intends to make up for this neglect by scrutinizing in what direction...