How Do Patent Laws Influence Innovation? Evidence from Nineteenth-Century World's Fairs

2005 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 1214-1236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Moser
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Technological Change ◽  
Comparative Advantage ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
Crystal Palace ◽  
Patent Laws ◽  
Small Set

Studies of innovation have focused on the effects of patent laws on the number of innovations, but have ignored effects on the direction of technological change. This paper introduces a new dataset of close to fifteen thousand innovations at the Crystal Palace World's Fair in 1851 and at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 to examine the effects of patent laws on the direction of innovation. The paper tests the following argument: if innovative activity is motivated by expected profits, and if the effectiveness of patent protection varies across industries, then innovation in countries without patent laws should focus on industries where alternative mechanisms to protect intellectual property are effective. Analyses of exhibition data for 12 countries in 1851 and 10 countries in 1876 indicate that inventors in countries without patent laws focused on a small set of industries where patents were less important, while innovation in countries with patent laws appears to be much more diversified. These findings suggest that patents help to determine the direction of technical change and that the adoption of patent laws in countries without such laws may alter existing patterns of comparative advantage across countries.

Innovation and Patents in American Economic History

2018 ◽  
pp. 2-22
Author(s):  
Petra Moser
Keyword(s):  
Technical Change ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Innovative Activity ◽  
World's Fair ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Crystal Palace ◽  
Patent Laws ◽  
Alternative Measures

This chapter summarizes historical evidence on the link between patent laws and innovation. Earlier historical analyses have emphasized the importance of patent laws in encouraging innovation. Data on exhibits at international technology fairs, such as the 1851 Crystal Palace world’s fair, however, indicate that only a small share of innovations are patented and that non-patent mechanisms may play an important role in encouraging innovation. They also show that inventors’ dependency on patents varies strongly across industries, so that radical changes in patent laws may influence the direction, if not the level, of technical change. Exhibition data also indicate that patents may play an important role in facilitating the diffusion of innovative activity by encouraging inventors to advertise their ideas. These results highlight the need for additional analyses of innovation that systematically analyze patents and alternative measures of innovation.

International Protection

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Kur ◽  
Martin Senftleben
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Industrial Design ◽  
Trade Mark ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Similar Sign ◽  
Copyright Laws ◽  
Patent Laws ◽  
General Scale ◽  
Modern Sense

Intellectual property is often said to be an invention of the nineteenth century. It is true that the importance of incentivizing innovation and encouraging investment in creative activities was recognized on a general scale only in the wake of industrialization, leading to the enactment in many countries of patent laws, modern-style copyright laws, or industrial design laws. Before that, protection for those achievements had only been granted in the form of privileges, serving the interests of particular trades or professions, and ultimately those of the sovereign. The period of industrialization also saw the emergence of the first trade mark laws in the modern sense that entitled the proprietors of such marks to enjoin others from using the same marks or a similar sign for their own products.

The Influence of TRIPS Compliant Patent Laws on Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rupesh Rastogi ◽  
Virendra Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
Uruguay Round ◽  
Pharmaceutical Products ◽  
Trips Agreement ◽  
Patent Law ◽  
Patent Laws ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time ◽  
Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

The first legislation in India relating to patents was the Act VI of 1856. The Indian Patents and Design Act, 1911 (Act II of 1911) replaced all the previous Acts. The Act brought patent administration under the management of Controller of Patents for the first time. After Independence, it was felt that the Indian Patents & Designs Act, 1911 was not fulfilling its objective. Various comities were constituted to recommend, framing a patent law which can fulfill the requirement of Indian Industry and people. The Indian Patent Act of 1970 was enacted to achieve the above objectives. The major provisions of the act, provided for process, not the product patents in food, medicines, chemicals with a term of 14 years and 5-7 for chemicals and drugs. The Act enabled Indian citizens to access cheapest medicines in the world and paved a way for exponential growth of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry. TRIPS agreement, which is one of the important results of the Uruguay Round, mandated strong patent protection, especially for pharmaceutical products, thereby allowing the patenting of NCEs, compounds and processes. India is thereby required to meet the minimum standards under the TRIPS Agreement in relation to patents and the pharmaceutical industry. India’s patent legislation must now include provisions for availability of patents for both pharmaceutical products and processes inventions. The present paper examines the impact of change in Indian Patent law on Pharmaceutical Industry.

Protecting User Interfaces

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noam Shemtov
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
The United States ◽  
Graphical User Interfaces ◽  
Unfair Competition ◽  
European Patent ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights Protection

This chapter examines the scope of protection to which graphical user interfaces may be eligible under various intellectual property rights: namely, trade marks, unfair-competition laws, design rights, copyright, and patents. It first considers the extent of copyright protection over a software product’s ‘look-and-feel’ elements, with particular emphasis on graphical user interfaces protection under US and EU laws. It then discusses trade-mark, trade-dress, and unfair-competition protection for graphical user interfaces, along with intellectual property rights protection for design patents and registered designs. Finally, it describes the patent protection for graphical user interfaces in the United States and at the European Patent Office.

The International IP System: From Continuity to Resilience

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
International Law ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Multilateral System ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
The Common ◽  
Relationship Of

This chapter looks at how rule-relations within the international intellectual property (IP) system have developed from continuity (in constantly raising minimum standards) to resilience (against certain forms of increasing protection). It considers the evolution of the international IP system from the nineteenth century onwards, examining how each succeeding changes and additions to the system had established a relationship of continuity which integrates existing standards and adds new ones. The chapter then turns to the emergence of another revolutionary change. The integral nature of the common goals established in TRIPS’ object and purpose creates a form of ‘resilience’ of the multilateral system over attempts for inter-se modifications. Moreover, international law has appropriate tools so that those charged with applying, implementing, and interpreting multilateral IP norms can give effect to this resilience both in relations of interpretation and relations of conflict.

scholarly journals Effects of patents on the transition from stagnation to growth

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angus C. Chu ◽  
Zonglai Kou ◽  
Xilin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Growth Model ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
Theoretic Analysis ◽  
Schumpeterian Growth ◽  
Long Run

Abstract This study provides a growth-theoretic analysis of the effects of intellectual property rights on the take-off of an economy from an era of stagnation to a state of sustained economic growth. We incorporate patent protection into a Schumpeterian growth model in which take-off occurs when the population size crosses an endogenous threshold. We find that strengthening patent protection has contrasting effects on economic growth at different stages of development. Specifically, it leads to an earlier take-off but also reduces economic growth in the long run.

scholarly journals History Lessons: The Early Development of Intellectual Property Institutions in the United States

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Zorina Khan ◽  
Kenneth L Sokoloff
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Public Disclosure ◽  
Property System ◽  
Private Market ◽  
Strict Enforcement ◽  
Market For Technology ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. was a pioneer in establishing the world's first modern intellectual property system. That system was distinguished by the provision of broad access to, and strict enforcement of, property rights in new inventions, coupled with the requirement of public disclosure, and it was effective at stimulating the growth of a market for technology and technical change more generally. Far from being static, fundamental modifications were introduced over time in response to changing circumstances. That such adjustments so often proved to be constructive owes partly to a private market being a central feature of the system, and partly to the democratic structure of U.S. institutions.

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