Filing Strategies and Patent Value

Abstract

This paper aims at contributing to the literature on the determinants of patent value. First, it puts forward a new potential class of value determinants in the form of filing strategies (encompassing filing routes and drafting styles). Second, it provides empirical evidence suggesting that these strategies are consistently and positively associated with patent value indicators. The empirical implementation relies on a unique dataset (about 250,000 patents granted by the EPO), which allows running large-scale sensitivity tests. The results reveal that the new determinants this paper puts forward -filing strategies - are the most stable of all. They also underline strong dependencies of several 'classical' results to the dependent variables and sampling methodologies, partly explaining several inconsistencies observed in the literature.

Keywords: Filing strategies, Patent quality, Patent systems, Patent value

JEL Classification: O31, O34, O50