Fwd: TIIP Newsletter 2003-2

[Carsten Svaneborg <svanebor@mpip-mainz.mpg.de>]

Maybe of interest

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Subject: TIIP Newsletter 2003-2
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 07:43:12 -0400
From: "TIIP Editor \(Jim Bessen\)" <tiip@netreach.net>
To: "TIIP Newsletter" <tiip@netreach.net>

Newsletter
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Issue 2003-2

To view the contents click on:
http://www.researchoninnovation.org/tiip/index.htm

* * * *
CONTENTS:

1. "The Case Against Intellectual Property"

In this provocative paper, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine question the
fundamental assumptions underlying the economic theory used to support
intellectual property systems.

2. 150 Years of Patent Policy Experiments

Do "stronger" patents increase innovation? Josh Lerner conducts an extensive
investigation of the impact of pro-patent-holder policy changes on rates of
patenting and finds surprising results.

3. Patents on Business Methods

Bronwyn H. Hall provides a review of recent research, both theoretical and
empirical, on the economic effects of the patent system. She does this to
evaluate the likely effect of the recent U.S. extension of patent protection
to business methods.

4. Measuring the Quality of Patents I

A key issue in evaluating the economic effect of patents is the measurement
of patent quality. Evidence suggests that many patents are worth very
little, but that a few are very valuable. Jean O. Lanjouw and Mark
Schankerman look at one way of measuring patent quality. They examine the
characteristics of those patents that firms find valuable enough to renew
and to protect in court.

5. Measuring the Quality of Patents II

Dominique Guellec and Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie look at the
same problem from a different angle. They explore the characteristics of
patent applications that are associated with the probability that a patent
will be granted (by the European Patent Office). These should be better
quality inventions.

NEXT ISSUE

The next TIIP newsletter will be a special issue containing invited articles
by leading researchers on "Patents, Pharmaceutical and the Third World."

--James Bessen, Editor

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