Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-5-2013
Abstract
Prior work suggests that more valuable patents are cited more and this view has become standard in the empirical innovation literature. Using an NPE-derived dataset with patent-specific revenues we find that the relationship of citations to value in fact forms an inverted-U, with fewer citations at the high end of value than in the middle. Since the value of patents is concentrated in those at the high end, this is a challenge to both the empirical literature and the intuition behind it. We attempt to explain this relationship with a simple model of innovation, allowing for both productive and strategic patents. We find evidence of greater use of strategic patents where it would be most expected: among corporations, in fields of rapid development, in more recent patents and where divisional and continuation applications are employed. These findings have important implications for our basic understanding of growth, innovation, and intellectual property policy.
Keywords
Productive innovation, defensive innovation, patents, creative destruction, citations, patent value, competition, intellectual property, entrepreneurship, strategic patenting, defensive patenting, patent thickets, fencing patents
Repository Citation
Abrams, David S.; Akcigit, Ufuk; and Popadak, Jillian, "Patent Value and Citations: Creative Destruction or Strategic Disruption?" (2013). All Faculty Scholarship. 498.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/498
Included in
Intellectual Property Law Commons, Other Economics Commons, Science and Technology Law Commons, Science and Technology Policy Commons, Science and Technology Studies Commons, Technology and Innovation Commons