Do Stronger Patents Induce More Innovation? Evidence from the 1988 Japanese Patent Law Reforms
Posted: 11 Oct 2000
There are 2 versions of this paper
Do Stronger Patents Induce More Innovation? Evidence from the 1988 Japanese Patent Law Reforms
NBER Working Paper No. w7066
Number of pages: 58
Posted: 19 Apr 1999
Last Revised: 24 Apr 2022
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Abstract
Does an expansion of patent scope induce more innovative effort by firms? We examine responses to the Japanese patent reforms of 1988. Interviews with practitioners and professional documents for patent agents suggest the reforms significantly expanded the scope of patent rights. However, econometric analysis using both Japanese and U.S. patent data on 307 Japanese firms finds no evidence of an increase in either R&D spending or innovative output which could be plausibly attributed to patent reform.
JEL Classification: O34, O32, L51
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Sakakibara, Mariko and Branstetter, Lee, Do Stronger Patents Induce More Innovation? Evidence from the 1988 Japanese Patent Law Reforms. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=239932
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