Showing posts with label Patent economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patent economy. Show all posts
Intellectual property and patents grew to become title news in 2012 as lawsuits, sales and aggressive gamesmanship generated a growing number of firms actively employing intellectual assets as feasible tools for building their organizations. The likes of Google, Samsung, Kodak, Apple company and Marvell were associated with millions (and billions) of bucks in litigation.

We anticipate ongoing expansion in the variety of companies wanting to improve an IP position and leverage their rights aggressively. Our analysis shows a growing variety of contenders seeking to capitalize on product, layout and intellectual innovation.

Every boardroom conversation should have on its routine a review of the firm’s patent portfolio. Companies looking to use intellectual property to set up their firm’s position, protect their business and also generate new income streams--all parts of the IP lifecycle--must on a regular basis evaluate their portfolios and also promote joint ventures among leaders in item, financial and lawful roles.

For 2013, we certainly have identified 5 trends which we expect will continue to shape the intellectual property and also patent industry:

1)    Patent Enforcement Entities (also referred to as Non-Practicing Entities or NPEs) will expand their reach by planning new industries such as medical and automotive wherein patents they control can be asserted.

2)    The variety of firms affiliating, joining current consortia or creating new consortia to distribute patent acquisition costs and share risk when exercising these cooperative assets will increase.
intellectual property in 2013
Intellectual Property Advancements in 2013

3)    Controversy For validity of software patents will need firms with software program assets to take into consideration how they safeguard their innovation and also how they claim the resulting IP rights.

4)    Firms with significant investments in IP are going to implement thorough efforts to control costs and also generate bring back from these possessions by identifying high quality patents. For example, Japanese technology companies would take a significantly different method of the management of IP capital due to the financial situation many of those companies face.

5)    A tiny set of businesses in Taiwan and China will give you leadership in switching IP practices in the region. Those organizations will attempt to modify the balance of patent power with their far western competitors by executing a sharp strategy to enhance their patent positions in vital technology spots.

As the usage of patents for competitive edge is still evolving, we encourage firms to spend money on growing robust IP strategies to protect their very own innovations and shareholder value.

Why Proper Translation is necessary?

Patent TranslationLegal Cases That Reveal the Need for Expert Translators

An improper translation submitted to the USPTO might narrow the scope of the patent claim, because the mistranslation are going to specify an amendment to the patent document. we’ll look at two more court cases that emphasize the consequences of utilizing low-quality translations for lawful purposes. You may risk having your translation rejected during the court case due to a poor translation method or even questionable translator qualifications.You may also risk the invalidation of the patent claims due to the insufficient translation of a large chunk of prior art.

A vital claim in your patent might be invalidated because of an inadequate translation of a particular sentence in a sheet of prior art. For instance, in case of Mitsubishi Chem. Organization, et al. v Barr Laboratories, Incorporation and Pliva-Hrvatska D.O.O., the interpretation of the translation for a single sentence from a piece of prior art determined the validity of contested statements. A patent translation is more likely to be found reliable by the court if a documented quality process is followed to create the translation. In Mitsubishi case, the court just rejected the translations provided by the defendant due to errors that took place during the translation method.

A A court might reject a patent translation that isn’t created by a fully qualified translator with demonstrated credentials. In the case of On Demand Machine Corporation v. Ingram Businesses, et al. the court states that in order for the Japan application to be considered as prior art evidence by the court, it has got to be translated by a verifiably competent translator.

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Patent Landscape

The significance of patent landscape is diff. to tell. The fundamental meaning of the phrase “patent landscape” Says that

        A patent landscape is a watch of patent and non-patent literature that aims to answer one or more business objectives. The outlines of the patent landscape are really defined by the individual objectives of the project.

        For Example A patent landscape is a survey of patent and non-patent lit. that seeks to answer one or even more business aims. The params. of the patent landscape really are defined by the separate objectives of the project.

patent landscapes, based on different customer goals:

        A quick survey of the technological area, where statistical markers like key players in the area who can become a threat are identified is one scenario. The ranges of details and aims may expand to complex, multi-month patent landscape researches involving analysis at a granular, patent-by-patent level so as to discern technology trends and also prepare a listing of specific recommendations based on the identified trends.


How can a enterprise strategically use the details from this patent landscape data and record?

Businesses can make use of patent landscaping studies for competing intelligence collecting: where you discover out more about your competitors than they learn about you. By analyzing the patent holdings of other businesses, you could identify their tactics and future products.

Patent landscape studies also assist businesses to recognize new junctions for investigation and development (R&D). When you draw a grid of different technologies, where the gaps would be? Which innovative parameters haven’t intersected yet? A patent landscape learning can help you identify the “white space” in a knowledge field.

who normally prepares a patent landscape study?

A patent expert or strategist that is aware of best tactics in IP searching and also analysis of IP info and whom also is familiar with the technical discipline of the landscape study are the people that normally prepare landscape studies. they have to have a very creative and open mind and should be comfortable interfacing with business strategists.

Give us a call at http://patentssupportonline.blogspot.in/p/contact.html page or mail us your query at webmaster@ttconsultants.co.in


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What are pro se and pro bono litigants?

This topic has already written  in Wikipedia, but if you don’t know about them you have come to an appropriate topic.

Pro Se litigators: Pro se refers to the term someone' Else (SE). Pro SE are those persons supporting 'on One's own behalf', As Opposed To Being represented by the lawyer.
In United States, and many court methods in the globe, The Proportion of pro se litigants is increasing Day-by-day.

There are certain significant records of pro se litigants gaining more than $2000 as plaintiffs: Robert Kearns, designer of the intermittent windshield wiper who received more than $10 million dollar from Ford for patent infringement; Reginald and Roxanna Bailey (District of Missouri 08-cv-1456), a married couple, who jointly won $140000 from Allstate Coverage in a federal jury trial; Timothy-Allen Albertson, who emerged in pro. per., was awarded $3500 in 1981 in a judgment by the San Francisco Municipal Court entered against the Universal Life Church for defamation by one of its ministers

Pro Bono:  Pro Bono Pertains for Public good Litigants. They might assist an individual or group on a legal case by filing government applications or even petitions.

It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technologies, and strategy consulting firms. USPTO has defined in situation of every specialist, Regardless of workload, has a right of responsibility to provide legal services to those Not able to pay (keeping in consideration that practitioner should support all proper efforts to fulfill his need of legal services).

Illustration is described in http://www.xlpat.com/#!patents/US20100106738A1





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How do you safeguard intellectual property?
Explaining Patent Litigation
Authorized Gazette for Patents
How to do patent search and why it is needed?
What are Ideal Practitioners and Why do we need Them?

Patents in the modern day inclination toward the word appeared in 1474 in the Venetian Republic. This year, a decree was given, according to which of the developments realized in rehearse, it was important to inform the Republican authorities, in order to avoid the use of inventions by others. The expression of a patent was ten years old. In 1623 in England issued a "Statute of Monopolies," according to which patents are provided for "projects of new inventions." The first patent code of the United States (Patent Act) publicized in 1790. In Russia in 1812 appears the initial general "law of specialties," and in 1830 the law of March 30, establishes the basic fundamentals of patent law.

A patent for an Creation may be granted by the concern power if the invention satisfies three basic conditions of patentability that is new, it is not known from the prior art, entails an inventive phase, that is, the proposed solution for the specialized does not undoubtedly follow from the prior art that should not be obvious; is industrially applicable, i.e. It can be used in printing, prescription drugs industry, media, communication network, IT, agriculture and other sectors of activity. Under the phase of test and distribution, the proposed patent is said to be checked whether or not it comply with all the rules or otherwise not. If desire patent comprises of all of the rules and regulations then it passes for patent registration.

Patent is amongst the primary parts of intellectual property that used to follow to guard the invention from obtaining use by third party. Patent not only protect once invention but also enables him to employ his or her invention while getting his business on the top of the list. Patent is placed of rules and limits under which patentee may reap all the legal benefits of invention while employing in the corporate world. Here the very same patentee can share partial or largest section of his or her patent privileges under an agreed base.

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Commercialization of Innovations




Considering INVENTIONS , INNOVATIONS AND Alternative technologies AND Help TAKING Choices AT THE Various STAGES OF THEIR Advertising AND Industrialization .


INTRODUCTION :
Technology and discoveries are key parts of the creation process , which modifies inventions into marketable products . This procedure is most complex and for this reason requires a lot professional professional skill and professional knowledge . WIPO and also IFIA have selected the main theme of this worldwide symposium “Commercialization of Original Inventions” in reply to various questions and requirements from inventors , organizations and revolutionary enterprises . Particular patented inventions will be introduced and mentioned in this international symposium over the subsequent days . Hopefully it will allow also to the members to exchange expertise and to obtain more insight into the complex facets of the innovation process .
Commercialization of the New technology ( THE Concluding BUT Most Important PHASE OF INNOVATION PROCESS )
If we look closer at the development process we will realize that it consists basically of 4 overlapping and correlated main phases :
1 ) Idea Generation
2 ) Conception Phase
3 ) Prototype and Formal production Phase
4 ) Production
5 ) Marketing as well as Commercialization


The crucial point in the development process is the making , marketing and industrialization stage , when the invention or the different product or method based on it will meet the test of the marketplace .
As it was already mentioned , the returns in terms of revenue upon its industrialization are the ultimate ( and eventually the most important ) evidence of the success of the invention and new product .
The innovation process is not a linear process and its different parts overlap and interact in a considerable degree . Nevertheless , for the inventor or his firm it is not advisable to begin commercialization at such a young stage and at least not before having filed a copyright application .

Read more at Commercialization of Innovations as PDF


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Specialized improvements in company spheres are making all organization areas modern technology powered. It really is for this reason that in the current global overall economy scenario, the single mantra for progress in the corporate realm appears to be an effective investment in the knowledge economy, in which an effective Patent profile creation and also its management plays a vital role and becomes a critical adjunct to the core business of a corporate and has to be aligned with many other core activities of the corporate.

Patent Profile creation, safety and commercialization is able to only be successfully maintained if the company has a staff of Patent Professionals who not only understand the technology but also closely understand the other allied and also extremely complicated patent subject matters. This really is precisely why Patent Experts are one of the most revered professionals in the corporate circle.
This demands two most important skill bearing individuals:
1)    Concerned Technologists
2)    R&D professionals

Rough Idea of Innovation Process
If such professionals possess adequate understanding on patent subject issues, they would have the ability to better study and appreciate the impact of their IP's when commercialized. They would after that precisely know what they intend to guard to create meaningful IP's.
At the same time Legal Managers too cannot protect company's patent profile or even contribute much in the commercialization process aside from they are clear on the prevalent patent treatments and practices and have a native view of the patent concerns. Therefore TT consultants have opened up a sincere attempt to introduce research workers, technicians and other area experts to the subject material of patents and make all of them appreciate and comprehensively understand the End-to-End global patent situation. The course equates with a dedicated purpose of aligning the prospective target audience to the accomplish procedures and ideal practices concerning four verticals of Patents

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How to do patent search and why it is needed

Have you ever had an idea for some gadget to make life simpler and asked yourself if it had been created yet? Ever previously thought about selling your innovation and required to know if somebody already whisk you to it? One way to discover these types of answers is to look for patents on similar gadgets and also decide if the invention is exclusive.

A patent is a lawful document describing the unique information of an invention and granting one or more persons the suitable to prevent other people from providing or selling that invention source: FreePatentsOnline, "Legal Definition". Some people may still yet try to obtain credit for or profit from the invention, but the patent gives the grantee the resolution to take legal action against those who do. In the US, patents are accepted and managed by the Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), part of the Division of Commerce. To get more on patents them-selves, see our guide at website.


Patent news Blog
Some patent search platforms like this one (xlpat.com)


To verify if somebody has a patent on a particular idea or object, you'll have to do a patent search. But, this isn't as simple as entering a few keywords into a Web search engine. The USPTO patent databases alone is huge, and a global search might be overwhelming. Thus, begin with shortening down what you're searching for and why.

First, recognize the kind of patent you're looking to find from the three kinds managed by the USPTO:

Utility patents are the commonest type, covering items that either function in some fresh way or produce some completely new result that similar objects hadn't been able to before.

Model patents encompass enhancements to a pre-existing object that don't change its features.

Plant patents cope with new types of plants which are grown using grafts, cuttings or some other asexual method. However, genetically engineered crops fall under the umbrella of utility patents.

Next, choose your search approach based on the cause you're searching. In the event that you're just checking for information and facts, novelty or state-of-the-art look ups are the best approaches. If you're looking to take legal action and safeguard yourself against it, an infringement or even validity search is more appropriate.



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Authorized Gazette for Patents

The Authorized Gazette for Patents is released each Tuesday in digital form merely, and also contains bibliographic text as well as a representative getting from each patent issued that week. Please note that the Official Gazette Notices are contained in each one issue.
patent news
The Official Gazette for Patents is offered on the net for the newest 52 issues. It may be searched by niche or kind of patent, for example, utility, layout, and plant. Particular patents may be accessed by class/subclass or patentee label. For each and every patent shown, you may click the "Full Text" button in the top left nook to recover the complete text of the patent from the USPTO Complete Text database. Notice usage notes within each issue or refer to the Frequently Asked Queries (FAQ) for added facts.

Specifics of each one patent is also able to be situated in the comprehensive, searchable patent full-text, full-page picture, and bibliographic data source, that are updated for every weekly problem and accessible straight from the home page of the USPTO Website.


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Explaining Patent Litigation

The court of Appeal disregarded Pozzoli's argument that Article 32 takes the full judicial hearing on the merits and held that a decision by the Courtroom of Appeal regarding whether or not to grant authorization to appeal from an order for revocation is a "judicial review" within the significance of Article 32 of the TRIPS Contract.

Nevertheless, the Court of Appeal went on to observe that, in patent instances which are not so clear and also which might not be known sufficiently readily by the Courtroom of Appeal in a hour or so, the much better course was normally for the trial judge to give authorization to appeal. This was because the Court of Appeal, when met with an imperfect understanding of the situation and a feasible skeleton argument seeking permission to appeal, would definitely grant permission in any event.

Patent Litigation Support
Patent Litigation Support 

So it still remains the case that a bash wanting to allure a judgment from a lower court must first influence the judge who made the decision to be appealed that the appeal has a real notion of success or that there is some powerful reason why the appeal should be heard. Examples are cases devising questions of terrific public attention or questions of general policy. On the other hand, following Pozzoli, approval can also be granted in the event that a party can influence a judge that it will take the Courtroom of Appeal greater than a hour to adequately understand the case to make a meaningful decision on permission to appeal. In practice, this could be a more appealing submission than trying to convince a Judge that he got it wrong. Failing that a party can still apply straight to the appeal court in an appeal notice.

Any permission granted may be limited to particular issues to be heard on the appeal or may be susceptible to conditions, for example, deferring the hearing of the appeal to a later time frame.

For all cases the appellant “or proposed appellant, if that party is seeking permission from the appeal court” must demand permission to allure in an appellant’s notice. The appellant’s notice must be made at the appeal court within 21 days after the day of the decision of the reduced court that the appellant would like to appeal unless an alternative time period is directed by the lower court “which might be longer or shorter when compared to 21 days”. An appellant who takes more than 21 days should relate to the lower court when the judgment is provided.
Conveying Patent Litigation.

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Teenagers with obesity will benefit from gastric bypass surgery just as much as adults

Teenagers with extreme overweight will benefit from gastric bypass surgery as much as grown ups. A study by Sahlgrenska Academy, College of Gothenburg, Sweden and Karolinska Institute, Sweden found that 81 teens shed approximately 96.8 lbs following surgical treatment, considerably enhancing their health and top quality of life.


The research, posted by the Worldwide Journal of Obesity, needed eighty-one 13-18 year-olds who had gastric bypass surgery, which had in the past been performed on people younger than 18 in remarkable cases only.

The brand new research found that gastric bypass surgery is just as effective in teenagers as with adults. At two-year follow-up, the teens had averaged weight reduction from 292.6 to 195.8pounds, their self-rated high quality of life had increased and a number of risk elements for coronary heart disease - primarily insulin amounts - have greatly improved.

"The teenagers who participated in the study represent a highly vulnerable cluster, with a history of psychosocial problems related to overweight, as well as bullying and underlying mental ailment," says Torsten Lobbers, a researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy, Lead Surgeon at Sahlgrenska College Medical center along with the leader of the research.



"With that in mind, the outcomes are surprisingly good. We will absolutely want to carefully examine potential adverse effects of gastric sidestep surgery in teenagers. However no other treatment is now available for this group. Moreover, we understand from previous studies that youngsters with severe obesity have reached risk of creating other diseases and lesser quality of existence as adults. For this reason, we hope that the method may eventually be offered to more teenagers" Torsten Olbers concludes.

"Given that these teenagers have attempted all other weight control alternatives and are hard to treat, pediatricians are very responsive to a new treatment method," states Professor Claude Marcus at Karolinska Institute, who was the pediatrician in charge.

The researchers demands that gastric bypass surgery will not automatically have an impact on psychological problems: some of the youngsters persisted to feel them despite having lost weight. Furthermore, medical complications such as volvulus and gallstones required follow-up surgery in some cases.

Source: University of Gothenburg
As Samsung airs TV ads poking entertainment at the ones that waited in line for the apple iphone 5, the legal shots between the corporations proceeds.
  Patent newsV/S Patent Blog
A little over 30 days after a Ca jury suggested Samsung pay over $1 billion in loss to Apple company for patent infringement, the arbitrator in the case has lifted the ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.

While the jury did find Samsung guilty of duplicating several popular features of Apple's items in the event, they didn't discover the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to infringe on a model patent. Samsung had asked for the sales prohibit to be lifted, and final night Judge Lucy Koh dissolved the injunction.
Samsung is taking on Apple's i phone 5 in a separate case. On Monday, Samsung's attorneys added the apple iphone 5 to its original filings, which held that Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch infringed on two of its mobile broadband patents. This second court case between the two tech giants is set to go to trial in March 2014.

"There is good cause to allow Samsung to change its infringement contentions to include the brand new iPhone 5 as an accused device in this lawsuit," the document filed by Samsung's attorneys states.

"We have constantly preferred to compete in the marketplace with our advanced products, rather than in a courtroom. Nevertheless, Apple continues to take hostile lawful action which will restrict marketplace competition," Samsung said in a touch. "Under these circumstances, we have tiny recourse but to seize the steps necessary to guard our innovations and rational property privileges."

Apple declined to comment when reached by ABC News.

The war between the two technical giants, analysts believe, will only obtain fiercer. "The Samsung vs. Apple war is becoming uglier before it improves," market analyst Patrick Moorhead told ABC News. "Samsung views Apple as a threat to their long-term survival but will do what it takes damage them. Samsung are going to spend billions to do this since their company is under tackle."

But even though the public doesn't carry out the legal dispute, they won't be able to escape the ads. Samsung has taken out print and video ad space throughout to push its Galaxy S III over Apple's brand new iPhone 5. Ultimately, there's no keeping away from the battle.

How do you safeguard intellectual property?

How do you safeguard intellectual property if you need to work with individuals who are not reliable? This is beyond any agreement, software or workflow safeguards that could be available.
In certain type or some other, the intellectual property exceeds the hands of many people in your enterprise at all levels. How can you have them from walking away with it? I know you will discover tools in the market that prevent sending emails content away, or saving to USB sticks. Are there any specific perfect practice or platforms out there.

An IT director Paul melson Said That There can be three aspects of coverage to consider for dealing with intellectual property (IP). The very first is a DLP software program solution that displays workstations and network boundaries for your trusty IP and also stop its transfer. The second is substantial security procedures, including access monitoring and substantial searches of employees since they go away from places they were working with IP. The 3rd and key part is an officially authorized document signed by each employee that information the nature, ownership, and expectations for managing and disclosure of IP along with the company's resort when they neglect to abide by the agreement.

That said, an individual who is determined to pass proprietary material to unlawful parties are able to get around all these methods. If you are aware of workers who definitely are untrustworthy, your best move will be to take away these people from the corporation.

The first step is to have a policy.

The second stage is member of staff instruction.

The policy must be strongly endorsed by higher management and imposed. Appropriate effort has to be spent educating employees. At the time of education I have them sign a confidentialy, solitude, and information security agreement that clearly indicates their responsibilities, legal ramifications for violation, with consequences.

Information Classification is yet another way to protect your assets. Employees should only be allowed access to information if there is a necessity to know. If your organization feels there exists a trustworthiness issues, than exclude those invididuals use of the info. If they breach the rules take suitable action.

For those who have suspicion to believe that you have problem workers in your enterprise. You should talk over some of this with legal counsel.


Patented technological innovation from ground breaking science causes a fresh category of healthiness goods.
Patented technology from leading edge technology induces a new classification of well-being supplements to provide wellness incomparable by any item in addition to company

Our one-of-a-kind stem cell nutrition items are designed to help your body’s mature stem cellular physiology, supplying you with an unmatched degree of well being, both equally inside and out.*

Many people will not know that adult stem tissues play the key part in the all-natural regeneration of your whole body because they are important for the maintenance and also repair of organs and also tissue in the course of your lifetime.

Because of factors for example age, anxiety, toxins or poor diet, there is a reduction in the release and also pursuit of mature stem cells, which can lead to a decline in the genuine ability of your body to sustain optimal health. Stemtech’s clinically studied stem cell nutrition line of items is made to help support three most important facets of stem cell physiology: the discharge, flow and also migrations of stem tissues.

Stemtech’s goods do not contain stem cells. These are made up of genuine botanicals as well as other substances that have been clinically reported to assist the functionality of your own stem cells.

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Economic issues raised by patents

Viewed from the angle of innovation policy, patents aim to foster innovation in the private sector
by allowing inventors to profit from their inventions. The positive effect of patents on innovation as incentive mechanisms has been traditionally contrasted with their negative effect on competition and technology diffusion. Patents have long been considered to represent a trade-off between incentives to innovate on one hand, and competition in the market and diffusion of technology on the other.

However, recent evolutions in science and technology and patent policy and progress in the economic analysis of patents have nuanced this view: patents can hamper innovation under certain conditions and encourage diffusion under others. The impact of patents on innovation and economic performance is complex, and fine tuning of patent design is crucial if they are to become an effective policy instrument.

Empirical evidence tends to support the effectiveness of patents in encouraging innovation,
subject to some cross-industry variation. In a series of surveys conducted in the United States, Europe and Japan in the mid-1980s and 1990s, respondent companies reported patents as being extremely important in protecting their competitive advantage in a few industries, notably biotechnology, drugs, chemicals and, to a certain extent, machinery and computers. Companies in other industries reported that patents play a secondary, if not negligible, role as a means of protection for their inventions, as they tend to rely more on alternative means such as secrecy, market lead, advance on the learning curve, technological complexity and control of complementary assets (Levin, Klevorick, Nelson and Winter, 1987; Cohen, Nelson and Walsh, 2000).

However, patent protection may also hamper further innovation, especially when it limits access
to essential knowledge, as may be the case in emerging technological areas when innovation has a
marked cumulative character and patents protect foundational inventions. In this context, too broad a protection on basic inventions can discourage follow-on inventors if the holder of a patent for an essential technology refuses access to others under reasonable conditions. This concern has often been raised for new technologies, most recently for genetic inventions (Bar-Shalom and Cook-Deegan, 2002; Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2002; OECD, 2003a) and software (Bessen and Maskin, 2000; Bessen and Hunt, 2003).

In addition, as has long been recognised, the main drawback of patents is their negative effect on
diffusion and competition. As patents are an exclusive right that creates a temporary monopoly, the patent holder can set a market price higher than the competitive price and limit the total volume of sales. This negative impact on competition could be magnified as patent holders try to strengthen their position in negotiations with other firms, in an attempt to block access by competitors to a key technology, or inversely, to avoid being blocked by them (Shapiro, 2002). Such strategic patenting seems to have developed over the past 15 years, notably in the electronics industry (Hall and Ziedonis, 2001).

Nevertheless, patents can also have a positive impact on competition when they enhance market
entry and firm creation. Not only is there evidence of small companies being able to assert their right in front of larger ones thanks to their patent portfolio, but patents may also be a decisive condition for entrepreneurs to obtain funds from venture capitalists (Gans, Hsu and Stern, 2002). Moreover, patents may enhance technology diffusion. Patenting means disclosing inventions which might otherwise be kept secret. Industrial surveys show that the reluctance of firms to patent their inventions is primarily due to the fear of providing information to competitors. This has been confirmed in the OECD/BIAC survey on the use and perception of patents in the business community, sent to firms in OECD countries in 2003 and in which respondents indicated their intensive use of patents as a source of information (Box 2; Sheehan, Guellec and Martinez, 2003). Patents also facilitate transactions in markets for technology: they can be bought and sold as property titles or, more frequently, be subject to licensing agreements which allow the licensee to use the patented invention in return for payment of a fee or royalty (Arora, Fosfuri and Gambardella, 2001; Vonortas, 2003). Finally, enhancing technology diffusion has been the goal put forward by governments to encourage universities to patent their inventions, with the objective of licensing them to businesses that will further develop and commercialise them (OECD, 2003b).

In summary, the traditional view of patents as a compromise between incentives to innovate and barriers to technology diffusion, if not incorrect, presents a rather partial picture, as patents can either encourage or deter innovation and diffusion, depending on certain conditions. In fact, the effect of patents on innovation and diffusion depends on particular features of the patent regime. Patent subject matter, patenting requirements and patent breadth are three basic tools for policy makers involved in the design of patent regimes that could be used to enhance both innovation and diffusion (Encaoua, Guellec and Martinez, 2003):
• Patent subject matter is the domain of knowledge that can be patented, if the patenting criteria
of novelty, non-obviousness and usefulness are also met. For instance, scientific discoveries
and abstract ideas are generally excluded. Its definition must be based on a careful
examination of when it is efficient for society to offer patent protection in addition to other
legal or market-based means of protection.


• Patenting requirement is the height of the inventive step required for a patent application to be
granted. It is understood as the extent of the contribution made by an invention to the state of
the art in a particular technology field. The higher that contribution, the more selective the
process, thus the lower the number of patents granted. The lower it is, the larger the likelihood
of finding many inventions with no significant social value. Conversely, too high a requirement
would discourage innovations which, while not being radical, are still necessary for
technological breakthrough to translate into actual products and processes.

• The breadth of a patent is the extent of protection granted to patent holders against imitators
and follow-on inventors. Not only do patentees obtain exclusive rights on their own invention
but also on other inventions which are deemed “functionally equivalent”, and to a certain
extent on improvements of their inventions. Patents that are too broad allow their holders to
“pre-empt the future”, while patents that are too narrow discourage research that feeds into
follow-on inventions. Other policy or legal aspects have an impact on the patent system, including the amount of damages attributed by courts in case of infringement, the conditions for exemptions for research use, etc. Taken together, these aspects determine the strength of patents. Overall, excessively weak and narrow patents might deter business investment in R&D, as it becomes too easy for an imitator to undercut the inventor’s market price. Weak and narrow patents may also encourage secrecy at the expense of publicity, and harm markets for technology, hence hindering diffusion of technology. Conversely, excessively strong and broad patents may open the door to undesired strategic behaviour by patent holders, who may use their titles to appropriate revenue from existing inventions marketed by other companies. For instance, a broad patent on a basic invention with no substitutes may be equivalent to having an exclusive right of exploitation over an essential facility, allowing its holder to bar follow-on inventors who would be willing to invest in R&D to create socially useful applications.
By carefully balancing these multiple instruments, policy makers can design patent regimes that are favourable to both innovation and diffusion.

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