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Sequential Innovation, Patents, and Imitation

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Author Info
James Bessen () (Boston University School of Law and Research on Innovation)
Eric Maskin () (School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study)

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Abstract

We argue that when discoveries are "sequential" (so that each successive invention builds in an essential way on its predecessors) patent protection is not as useful for encouraging innovation as in a static setting. Indeed, society and even inventors themselves may be better off without such protection. Furthermore, an inventor's prospective profit may actually be enhanced by competition and imitation. Our sequential model of innovation appears to explain evidence from a natural experiment in the software industry.

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Paper provided by Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science in its series Economics Working Papers with number 0025.

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Length: 57 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2006
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Handle: RePEc:ads:wpaper:0025

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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.:
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    Other versions:
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    Other versions:
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