What is a Patent Worth? Evidence from the U.S. Patent “Lottery”

What is a Patent Worth? Evidence from the U.S. Patent “Lottery”

We provide evidence on the value of patents to startups by leveraging the quasi-random assignment of applications to examiners with different propensities to grant patents. Using unique data on all first-time applications filed at the U.S. Patent Office since 2001, we find that startups that win the patent “lottery” by drawing lenient examiners have, on average, 55% higher employment growth and 80% higher sales growth five years later. Patent winners also pursue more, and higher quality, follow-on innovation. Winning a first patent boosts a startup’s subsequent growth and innovation by facilitating access to funding from VCs, banks, and public investors.

Alexander Ljungqvist

Cato Institute

October 2019

I didn't find this helpful.This was helpful. Please let us know if you found this article helpful.
Loading...
By |2020-05-15T09:18:42-07:00January 1st, 2018|Intellectual Property, Patents, Political Economy, Reference, Reforms|