The Value of Patents and Patenting Strategies: Countries and Technology Areas Patterns

This paper explores the determinants of the probability for a patent application to result in a grant (as opposed to being rejected by the patent office or withdrawn by the patentee). A grant is interpreted as signaling the value of the invention. Guellec and van Pottelsberghe (2000) studied the common determinants for OECD countries and technological fields. This paper extends their analysis by exploring determinants specific to countries and technological fields. Technological diversity, cross-border ownership of inventions, domestic and international research co-operation, the number of applicants, the combination of designated states for protection, the patenting procedure, the technological category and the geographical origin of an invention are all characteristics that significantly affect the probability of a patent application to be granted. Overall there is little heterogeneity across countries, and no heterogeneity across technology fields. Only Japan displays significant differences with other countries.