Flight from Quantity...Flight to Quality? A Differences in Differences Analysis of Patent Applications and Complaints Following Patent Reform (Presentation Slides)

26 Pages Posted: 15 Feb 2019

See all articles by Colleen V. Chien

Colleen V. Chien

UC Berkeley School of Law

Nicholas Halkowski

Formerly of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Marvin Mercado

Santa Clara University, School of Law, Students

Priyanka Vyas

Santa Clara University, School of Law, Students

Date Written: December 16, 2018

Abstract

In 2014-2015, policymakers made changes to the patent system that were intended to decrease abusive litigation and increase the quality of patents and complaints. The changes included the Octane Fitness & Highmark (fee-shifting, Alice (patentable subject matter), Teva, and Williamson cases (definitness) and Form 18 reform (pleading standards). Have they worked, based on looking at complaints and applications pre-and post-change?

In this analysis, initially presented to the FTC's Hearings on Innovation and Competition in Oct 2018, and performed with Santa Clara Law Students Nicholas Halkowski, Marvin Mercado, Priyanka Vyas, we document the following changes: patent complaints across technology areas are much more likely to contain claim charts and product details than they were in the pre-2014 period; using a differences in differences approach, software claims are longer, narrower (based on unique words), and software applications are longer, relative to non-s/w claims; we also find a decline in scale (10+) and NPE (both PAE and non-PAE) assertions.

The data suggests that patent reform has had one of its intended impacts, of increasng the quality of patent applications and complaints.

Keywords: patents, empirical legal studies, patent reform, patent litigation, patent prosecution, civil procedure

JEL Classification: K20, L51, O31, O34

Suggested Citation

Chien, Colleen V. and Halkowski, Nicholas and Mercado, Marvin and Vyas, Priyanka, Flight from Quantity...Flight to Quality? A Differences in Differences Analysis of Patent Applications and Complaints Following Patent Reform (Presentation Slides) (December 16, 2018). Santa Clara Univ. Legal Studies Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3320907 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3320907

Colleen V. Chien (Contact Author)

UC Berkeley School of Law ( email )

302 JSP
2240 Piedmont Ave
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
510-664-5254 (Phone)

Nicholas Halkowski

Formerly of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati ( email )

650 Page Mill Rd
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1050
United States

Marvin Mercado

Santa Clara University, School of Law, Students ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
United States

Priyanka Vyas

Santa Clara University, School of Law, Students ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
United States

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