We investigate the causal effect of patent rights on cumulative innovation, using large-scale data that approximate the … patent universe in its technological and economic variety. We introduce a novel instrumental variable for patent invalidation … that exploits personnel scarcity in post-grant opposition at the European Patent Office. We find that patent invalidation …

modern patent law. But economic theory has moved on. Since the 1990s, legal scholars have repeatedly mined the discipline to … literature’s broader lessons for doctrine. This article asks how well today’s patent doctrine follows and occasionally departs …’s PHOSITA standard. The second principle holds that patent breadth should be chosen to balance the benefits of innovation …

We investigate the causal effect of patent rights on cumulative innovation, using large-scale data that approximate the … patent universe in its technological and economic variety. We introduce a novel instrumental variable for patent invalidation … that exploits personnel scarcity in post-grant opposition at the European Patent Office. We find that patent invalidation …