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Assessing the value of patent portfolios : An international country comparison

Schubert, Torben LU (2011) In Scientometrics 88(3). p.787-804
Abstract

Patent counts have been extensionally used to measure the innovative capacities of countries. However, since economic values of patents may differ, simple patent counts may give misleading rankings, if the patents of one country are on average more valuable than those of another. In the literature several methods have been proposed, which shall adjust for these differences. However, often these do not possess a solid economic micro-foundation and therefore are often ad-hoc and arbitrary procedures. In this paper, we intend to present an adjustment method that is based on the analysis of renewal decisions. The method builds on the theoretical model used in Schankerman and Pakes (1986) and Besson (2008) but goes beyond both approaches in... (More)

Patent counts have been extensionally used to measure the innovative capacities of countries. However, since economic values of patents may differ, simple patent counts may give misleading rankings, if the patents of one country are on average more valuable than those of another. In the literature several methods have been proposed, which shall adjust for these differences. However, often these do not possess a solid economic micro-foundation and therefore are often ad-hoc and arbitrary procedures. In this paper, we intend to present an adjustment method that is based on the analysis of renewal decisions. The method builds on the theoretical model used in Schankerman and Pakes (1986) and Besson (2008) but goes beyond both approaches in that it recovers the important long tail of the value distribution. It also transfers Besson's (2008) econometric methodology (applicable to the organisational structures of the US Patent and Trademark Office) also to the European Patent Office which is necessary, since each application here may split up into several national patent documents. The analysis is performed for 22 countries. Exemplarily, we find that in the cohort of 1986 patent applications, Danish patents are about 60% more valuable than the average patent. German patents are a bit below average. Japanese patents are of least value. In the cohort of 1996, Danish patents lose some of their lead but are still more valuable than the average. While German are a bit above average, Japanese patents even fall further behind (possibly due to the economic downturn in since the mid of 1990ies).

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author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Adjustment, Patent count, Renewal fees, Value
in
Scientometrics
volume
88
issue
3
pages
18 pages
publisher
Akademiai Kiado
external identifiers
  • scopus:80051469407
ISSN
0138-9130
DOI
10.1007/s11192-011-0454-2
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
a8a1c45b-738a-4d75-b20c-6970ef5e1aa2
date added to LUP
2020-10-14 08:10:23
date last changed
2022-02-01 17:00:37
@article{a8a1c45b-738a-4d75-b20c-6970ef5e1aa2,
  abstract     = {{<p>Patent counts have been extensionally used to measure the innovative capacities of countries. However, since economic values of patents may differ, simple patent counts may give misleading rankings, if the patents of one country are on average more valuable than those of another. In the literature several methods have been proposed, which shall adjust for these differences. However, often these do not possess a solid economic micro-foundation and therefore are often ad-hoc and arbitrary procedures. In this paper, we intend to present an adjustment method that is based on the analysis of renewal decisions. The method builds on the theoretical model used in Schankerman and Pakes (1986) and Besson (2008) but goes beyond both approaches in that it recovers the important long tail of the value distribution. It also transfers Besson's (2008) econometric methodology (applicable to the organisational structures of the US Patent and Trademark Office) also to the European Patent Office which is necessary, since each application here may split up into several national patent documents. The analysis is performed for 22 countries. Exemplarily, we find that in the cohort of 1986 patent applications, Danish patents are about 60% more valuable than the average patent. German patents are a bit below average. Japanese patents are of least value. In the cohort of 1996, Danish patents lose some of their lead but are still more valuable than the average. While German are a bit above average, Japanese patents even fall further behind (possibly due to the economic downturn in since the mid of 1990ies).</p>}},
  author       = {{Schubert, Torben}},
  issn         = {{0138-9130}},
  keywords     = {{Adjustment; Patent count; Renewal fees; Value}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{787--804}},
  publisher    = {{Akademiai Kiado}},
  series       = {{Scientometrics}},
  title        = {{Assessing the value of patent portfolios : An international country comparison}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-011-0454-2}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11192-011-0454-2}},
  volume       = {{88}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}