It is a crucial function of patent examination to make the patent scope consistent with the contribution of the invention to the state of the art. We assess this function using newly developed data on the scope of Japanese patent applications and grants. We find that the scope was narrowed in...

Using a novel panel dataset of corporate inventors matched with their employers in Japan, we examine the effects of output-based financial incentives on corporate inventor's performance. We exploit the 2001 court decision that discontinuously forced many firms to adopt or strengthen the...

This chapter summarizes the basic characteristics of patent data as an innovation indicator and reviews some of the recent research using patent data, focusing on major developments since Griliches in 1990 [Griliches, Z. (1990). “Patent statistics as economic indicators: A survey”. Journal...