In this paper, we construct a new index measuring the strength of intellectual property (IP) protection for plant varieties in 69 countries over the period 1961–2011. We examine the statistical properties of the index and compare it with other indicators of IP protection. We conclude that the...

It is well known that not all innovations are patented, but the exact volume of innovative activities undertaken outside the coverage of patent protection and, relatedly, the actual propensity to patent an innovation in different contexts remain, to a major degree, a matter of speculation. This...

In the field of compatibility standards, an increasing number of companies claim to own so-called essential patents (i.e. those patents that are indispensable for designing and manufacturing products conforming to the standard). It is widely believed that the ownership of such patents is a very...

The scholarly literature on innovation was for a long time not very voluminous. But as shown in the paper, this is now rapidly changing. New journals, professional associations and organizational units within universities focusing on innovation have also been formed. This paper explores the...

This paper addresses the question of whether patent citations are useful indicators of technology flows. We exploit the distinction between citations added by inventors and patent examiners. We use information from the search reports of European Patent Office patent examiners to construct our...

This paper applies network analysis to a citation database that combines the key references in the fields of Entrepreneurship (ENT), Innovation Studies (INN) and Science and Technology Studies (STS). We find that citations between the three fields are relatively scarce, as compared to citations...