Patent institutions and governments believe patents are fundamental to the growth of domestic innovation. China above all else has chosen a strategic patent regime as a talisman for economic change; a national solution to moving away from reliance on manufacturing and low-cost consumer products...

The question I address in this paper is whether or not the patent marketplace is developing in a sustainable way that rewards inventors and business people according to the aims of past and current patent policy. This paper addresses developments in the private patent marketplace from a...