Chapter 1 discusses the econometric pitfalls associated with the use of patent production functions to study the invention process. It then goes on to argue that a sound understanding of the invention process necessarily requires an understanding of the propensity to patent. The empirical analysis carried out in Chapter 1 seeks to explain the proportion of inventions patented – a potential metric for the propensity to patent – from an international sample of manufacturing firms. Chapter 2 proposes a methodology to filter out the noise induced by varying patent practices in the R&D-patent relationship. The methodology explicitly decomposes the patent-to-R&D ratio into its components of productivity and propensity. It is then applied to a novel data set of priority patent applications in four countries and six industries. Chapter 3 takes stock of the literature on the role of fees in patent systems while Chapter 4 presents estimates of the price elasticity of demand for patents at the trilateral offices (that is, in the U.S., Japan and Europe). The estimation of dynamic panel data models of patent applications suggests that the long-term price elasticity is about -0.30.

No / In this paper we report on a composite index of international patent systems strength for 48 developing and industrialized countries annually from 1998 to 2011. Building upon earlier indices we develop a conceptual framework informed by transaction cost theory and derive measures which emphasize the importance of enforcement-related aspects of the patent system of countries. Findings reveal harmonization of the regulative aspects of patent protection internationally in the post-TRIPs era but not of overall national patent systems. The index should inform studies on the relationship between national patent systems and a range of international business and other phenomena. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The past decade has witnessed a second academic revolution with the new role of contributing to economic growth and social development assigned to universities. A real phenomenon embedded in this new role is the right given to universities to file for a patent protection over publicly funded research and the possibility to retain financial returns from its license or selling. The aim of this thesis is to better understand this phenomenon and its relationship to scientific production.<p><p>Starting with the role patents pay in stimulating innovation, Chapter 2 assesses the cost of rewarding and enforcing exclusive patent rights in Europe and discusses implications for patenting at universities.<p><p>Chapter 3 aims to document patenting at universities in Belgium by applying the definition of university-invented patents. It challenges the ‘European Paradox’, the view that despite being good in producing science, European research institutions are not successful in transferring it to the real economy.<p><p>Chapters 4 and 5 investigate the relationship between patenting and scientific productivity. Chapter 4 questions the critique that patenting at universities may have a detrimental effect on scientific progress. Chapter 5 challenges the view that knowledge diversity increases group ability to innovate. It further enhances our understanding of how different ways of achieving diversity affect team inventive performance.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Chapter 1 discusses the econometric pitfalls associated with the use of patent production functions to study the invention process. It then goes on to argue that a sound understanding of the invention process necessarily requires an understanding of the propensity to patent. The empirical analysis carried out in Chapter 1 seeks to explain the proportion of inventions patented – a potential metric for the propensity to patent – from an international sample of manufacturing firms. <p><p>Chapter 2 proposes a methodology to filter out the noise induced by varying patent practices in the R&D-patent relationship. The methodology explicitly decomposes the patent-to-R&D ratio into its components of productivity and propensity. It is then applied to a novel data set of priority patent applications in four countries and six industries.<p><p>Chapter 3 takes stock of the literature on the role of fees in patent systems while Chapter 4 presents estimates of the price elasticity of demand for patents at the trilateral offices (that is, in the U.S. Japan and Europe). The estimation of dynamic panel data models of patent applications suggests that the long-term price elasticity is about -0.30.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished