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Claiming more: the Increased Voluminosity of Patent Applications and its Determinants

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Author Info
van Zeebroeck, Nicolas
van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, Bruno
Guellec, Dominique

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Abstract

The size of patent applications has doubled over the past two decades, resulting in a dramatic surge in the workload of patent offices all over the world and serious concerns over patent quality standards. The current paper investigates the sources of this inflation in claims and pages for EPO applications. Four hypotheses are quantitatively examined: the diffusion of national drafting practices, the complexity of research activities, the emergence of new sectors, and filing strategies. The results validate the four hypotheses. They reveal major differences across countries in patent drafting styles, especially between Civil and Common Law countries, the latter being characterized by much larger patents. Second, the success of the PCT route is leading to the harmonizing of drafting styles worldwide on the US model. This paper therefore challenges the commonly accepted idea that more claims reflect a broader scope of protection by showing that the size of patents is partly due to institutional changes in the system.

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File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V77-4VW91CX-1/2/b254c801e9091424f1ef3aa2267c45fd
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Research Policy.

Volume (Year): 38 (2009)
Issue (Month): 6 (July)
Pages: 1006-1020
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Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:38:y:2009:i:6:p:1006-1020

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/respol

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Related research
Keywords: Patent size Patent scope IP strategy Claim drafting Patent systems;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Bronwyn H. Hall & Stuart J. H. Graham & Dietmar Harhoff & David C. Mowery, 2004. "Prospects for Improving U.S. Patent Quality via Post-grant Opposition," Law and Economics 0401002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Eugenio Archontopoulos & Dominique Guellec & Niels Stevnsborg & Bruno van Pottelsberghe & Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2006. "When small is beautiful: measuring the evolution and consequences of the voluminosity of patent applications at the EPO," Working Papers CEB 06-019.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Jerry A. Hausman & Bronwyn H. Hall & Zvi Griliches, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," NBER Technical Working Papers 0017, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Mosahid Khan & Hélène Dernis, 2005. "Impact of Patent Co-Operation Treaty Data on Epo Patent Statistics and Improving the Timeliness of EPO Indicators," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2005/2, OECD, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. [Downloadable!]
  5. Carl Shapiro, 2000. "Navigating the Patent Thicket: Cross Licenses, Patent Pools, and Standard-Setting," Competition Policy Center, Working Paper Series CPC00-011, Competition Policy Center, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Dominique Guellec & Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, 2002. "The Value of Patents and Patenting Strategies: Countries and Technology Areas Patterns," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 133-148, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Carine Peeters & Bruno Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, 2006. "Innovation strategy and the patenting behavior of firms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 109-135, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Tong, Xuesong & Frame, J. Davidson, 1994. "Measuring national technological performance with patent claims data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 133-141, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. James Bessen, 2004. "Patent Thickets: Strategic Patenting of Complex Technologies," Working Papers 0401, Research on Innovation. [Downloadable!]
  10. Guellec, Dominique & Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, Bruno v., 2000. "Applications, grants and the value of patent," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 109-114, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Cameron, A Colin & Trivedi, Pravin K, 1986. "Econometric Models Based on Count Data: Comparisons and Applications of Some Estimators and Tests," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 1(1), pages 29-53, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Jean O. Lanjouw & Mark Schankerman, 1999. "The Quality of Ideas: Measuring Innovation with Multiple Indicators," NBER Working Papers 7345, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Paul H. Jensen & Alfons Palangkaraya & Elizabeth Webster, 2005. "Patent Application Outcomes across the Trilateral Patent Offices," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2005n05, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
  14. Guellec, Dominique & Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, Bruno v., 2001. "The internationalisation of technology analysed with patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1253-1266, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Kortum, Samuel & Lerner, Josh, 1999. "What is behind the recent surge in patenting?1," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-22, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Malwina Mejer & Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, 2008. "The London Agreement and the Cost of Patenting in Europe," ECARES Working Papers 2008_032, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecares. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. George Lazaridis & Bruno Van Pottelsberghe, 2007. "The rigour of EPO's patentability criteria: An insight into the "induced withdrawals"," Working Papers CEB 07-007.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
  3. Gaetan de Rassenfosse & Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, 2008. "On the Price Elasticity of Demand for Patents," ECARES Working Papers 2008_031, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecares. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2009. "From patent renewals to applications survival: do portfolio management strategies play a role in patent length?," Working Papers CEB 09-028.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
  5. Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2008. "Développement et impact des stratégies de dépôt de brevets," Working Papers CEB 08-041.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Gaetan de Rassenfosse & Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, 2008. "A Policy Insight into the R&D-Patent Relationship," ECARES Working Papers 2008_007, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecares. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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