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Do patents enable disclosure? Strategic innovation management of the four-stroke engine

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  • Patricio Sáiz
  • Rubén Amengual

Abstract

A significant argument in favor of patents is that they enable knowledge disclosure, which compensates for their social cost. Although patent institutions can influence disclosure levels by what they require before granting patents, innovators have a natural bias to conceal key information because such knowledge can make a competitor’s second-generation invention and patent more powerful. Despite interest in the subject, little empirical research has been carried out to analyze how much information patents actually disclose and how patentees and corporations historically manage these kinds of monopolies. Using a key case study of a radical innovation—the four-stroke engine, patented by Nicolaus August Otto in 1876—we conducted a detailed technical analysis of its patents in six countries. Our research provides new insights on issues related to full (or lack thereof) patent disclosure, the management strategies designed to maintain patent monopolies, and the effects of such monopolies on future innovation, knowledge, and control of marketplaces.

Suggested Citation

  • Patricio Sáiz & Rubén Amengual, 2018. "Do patents enable disclosure? Strategic innovation management of the four-stroke engine," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(6), pages 975-997.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:27:y:2018:i:6:p:975-997.
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    2. Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle H. & Streb, Jochen, 2018. "Discrimination against Foreigners. The Wuerttemberg Patent Law in Administrative Practice," Working Papers 7, German Research Foundation's Priority Programme 1859 "Experience and Expectation. Historical Foundations of Economic Behaviour", Humboldt University Berlin.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N70 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N83 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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