Need for Speed? Exploring the Relative Importance of Patents and Utility Models Among German Firms

Economics of Innovation and New Technology 27(1), 80-105, 2017

40 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2017 Last revised: 17 Jan 2018

See all articles by Jussi Heikkilä

Jussi Heikkilä

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT); University of Jyväskylä - School of Business and Economics

Annika Lorenz

Utrecht University - Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development

Date Written: March 9, 2017

Abstract

Despite the wide use of two-tiered patent systems (patents and utility models (UMs)), there is little empirical evidence about how often UMs are actually used, what kind of firms use them to protect their intellectual property, and how firms rank them relative to patents. We offer such an analysis using data from Germany. We find that larger firms are more likely to use both protection methods. Moreover, a short life cycle of products and services is associated with an increased likelihood to use UMs. The features and functioning of the German UM system are of broader interest because it has been a benchmark for several second tier patent protection systems around the world.

Keywords: patent, utility model, two-tiered patent system, intellectual property strategy, Germany

JEL Classification: O31, O32, O34

Suggested Citation

Heikkilä, Jussi and Lorenz, Annika, Need for Speed? Exploring the Relative Importance of Patents and Utility Models Among German Firms (March 9, 2017). Economics of Innovation and New Technology 27(1), 80-105, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2956271

Jussi Heikkilä

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) ( email )

Mukkulankatu 19
Lahti, 15210
Finland

University of Jyväskylä - School of Business and Economics ( email )

University of Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä, FIN-40014
Finland

Annika Lorenz (Contact Author)

Utrecht University - Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development ( email )

Heidelberglann 2
3508 TC Utrecht
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.uu.nl/staff/ALorenz

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