Clear and well-defined patent rights can incentivize innovation by granting monopoly rights to the inventor for a limited period of time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. However, when a product draws from intellectual property held across multiple firms (including fragmented...

Patent examination is a complex and information-intensive process. For researchers and policy analysts studying this process, it is important to have a basic understanding of how patents typically proceed through examination and how the behaviour and incentives facing examiners might influence...