Patent reform
Subtitle: aligning reward and contribution
By: Carl Shapiro.
Contributors: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- no. 13141.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13141.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 46
Subjects: Patent practice -- Social aspects -- United States; Patent laws and legislation -- Social aspects -- United States; Technological innovations -- Social aspects -- United States
Description: Economists and policy makers have long recognized that innovators must be able to appropriate a reasonable portion of the social benefits of their innovations if innovation is to be suitably rewarded and encouraged. However, this paper identifies a number of specific fact patterns under which the current U.S. patent system allows patent holders to capture private rewards that exceed their social contributions. Such excessive patentee rewards are socially costly, since they raise the deadweight loss associated with the patent system and discourage innovation by others. Economic efficiency is promoted if rewards to patent holders are aligned with and do not exceed their social contributions. This paper analyzes two major reforms to the patent system designed to spur innovation by better aligning the rewards and contributions of patent holders: establishing an independent invention defense in patent infringement cases, and strengthening the procedures by which patents are re-examined after they are issued. Three additional reforms relating to patent litigation are also studied: limiting the use of injunctions, clarifying the way in which "reasonable royalties" are calculated, and narrowing the definition of "willful infringement."
Notes: "May 2007"

Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-41).

Also available in PDF from the NBER world wide web site (www.nber.org).