INCPATSYS

Incentives in the Patent System

Coordinatore	STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT BRABANT UNIVERSITEIT VAN TILBURG    more  Organization address address: Warandelaan 2 city: TILBURG postcode: 5037 AB contact info Titolo: Mrs. Nome: Marjoleine Cognome: De Wit Email: send email Telefono: 31134663266
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Netherlands [NL]
Totale costo	169˙485 €
EC contributo	169˙485 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF
Funding Scheme	MC-IEF
Anno di inizio	2011
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2011-06-01   -   2013-05-31

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT BRABANT UNIVERSITEIT VAN TILBURG  Organization address address: Warandelaan 2 city: TILBURG postcode: 5037 AB contact info Titolo: Mrs. Nome: Marjoleine Cognome: De Wit Email: send email Telefono: 31134663266	NL (TILBURG)	coordinator	169˙485.60

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'A key element of innovation policy is the patent system. For the patent system to perform its function of fostering innovation, an adequate process of patent review must be in place. Failure of the patent office and courts to weed out low-quality patents leads ex post to deadweight loss and costly litigation. If anticipated by firms, it may lead ex ante to an inefficient allocation of resources by diverting funds that would otherwise go into R&D towards wasteful rent-seeking activities. Understanding the incentives of the various market actors involved in the process of patent review, and the constraints under which the relevant institutions operate, is essential for designing a better patent system. It is the subject of the present proposal to advance our understanding of these issues. The research project will study how application fees can be used in conjunction with explicit and implicit incentives for examiners and judges to influence the behavior of firms, and how the legal rules used in the determination of patent validity affect these incentives. Ultimately, the results of the research project should therefore contribute to improving the level of innovation in Europe and to a more efficient use of the resources devoted to R&D.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

The European Union's Unified Patent Court (UPC) is at the core of innovation. This research project studied the current patent system from three angles to assess its current functionality.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

A patent can be defined as a temporary government-granted monopoly right on something made by an inventor. There are actually various kinds of patents, the most well-known type being the utility patent. The purpose of the patent system, as described in the project, is to incentivise innovation. The resulting three papers of this project, funded by the European Commission, examine patent examiner salaries and incentives schemes, and the behaviour of patent applicants.

This project, titled 'Incentives in the patent system' (INCPATSYS), and the conclusions drawn are important findings for the patent office and legislators governing the court. More specifically, the project infers relevant action for compensation of patent examiners, for the structure of application fees, and for the optimal patent examination intensity.

One of INCPATSYS' papers is titled 'Inventors and imposters: An analysis of patent examination with self-selection of firms into R&D'. It provides evidence that renewal rates and fee-adjusted renewal rates of patents issued to large firms increased relative to those of small firms. This is consistent with the predictions of the model.

Another of the research project's papers is titled 'Patent screening, renewal fees and the courts'. It examines the current system of how a patent is challenged and develops a different model exploring other ways a system might work.

Findings and ideas explored in this project can help refine the current patent system. With the European Union's UPC at the centre of innovation, this research challenges the current establishment and new efficiencies with new standards.