The contributory infringement rule assesses liability to a third party that contributes tothe infringement of a patent. Not only are firms that directly infringe liable, those whoindirectly contribute are also liable. We investigate how this rule affects the creation of anetwork of members...

Post-grant validity challenges at patent offices rely on the private initiative of third parties to correct mistakes made by patent offices. We hypothesize that incentives to bring post-grant validity challenges are reduced when many firms benefit from revocation of a patent and when firms are...

Patents have long been regarded as the 'gold standard' of intellectual property protection. In 'Little patents and big secrets: managing intellectual property', Anton and Yao (2004) call this traditional view into question by finding that firms keep their most important innovations secret. This...

Traditionally patents are seen as the gold standard for intellectual property protection. But, in line with empirical findings that secrecy is considered more important for appropriating returns, recent theories predict that firms keep their most important inventions secret. This article...

We present a theoretical and empirical analysis of the fitness of national German (German Commercial Code - Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB)) and international (IAS and US-GAAP) accounting information, as well as European patent data to explain the market values of German manufacturing firms. For the...

This think piece examines the issue of patents and innovation in the light of both the TRIPS Agreement and the available evidence. After reviewing the raison d'être of the TRIPS Agreement, it focuses on what can be done within the confines of the WTO to ensure that patent protection stimulates...

How to structure IP laws in order to maximize social welfare by striking the right balance between incentives to innovate and access to innovation is an empirical question. It is a challenging one to answer, both because innovation is difficult to value and changes in IP protection are rare. The...

The patent system has a 'one size' approach to duration of protection, in that all inventions are entitled to the same maximum period of grant: 20 years. This paper seeks to answer the question whether this 'one size' approach 'fits all' inventions. It does so by determining if the duration of...

Recent patent-related judicial developments and legislative proposals have implications for the business of technology commercialization. This paper summarizes the most significant of these developments and proposals, and highlights their potential implications for technology commercialization...

The Supreme Court's 2006 eBay ruling marked a turning point in injunctive relief policy. Unfortunately, there seems to be considerable confusion about the implications of the decision. Some authors, concerned over patent holdup and excessive royalty rates, interpret the eBay decision as giving a...