PATENT UNCERTAINTIES AND INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION

Trinity University, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

The efficiency of patent systems has direct effects on the transformation of innovation from licensing, investment and industrial collaboration. This project conducts a longitudinal comparison of patent uncertainties (i.e. patenting delays and granting) and the role that foreign applicants play between the US and China, the top two patent filing nations in the world. The project compares and contrasts the treatment toward different types of patent applicants, and recognizes the relative strengths and weaknesses of patent practices between the two nations. The findings fill an intellectual void on the theoretical and empirical understanding of patent internationalization and are relevant for innovation policy makers and industrial practitioners. Policy recommendations are provided for resolving international tension and enhancing bilateral collaboration. Multiple patent data sources are consulted for data triangulation and to avoid mono-method bias. The research conducts lagged regression modeling, and multiple equality test comparisons using invention patent data. The longitudinal investigation of patents, patent offices, and technologies between the U.S. and China also reveals the changing nature of patent internationalization over the past 20 years. The new datasets generated from the statistical modeling are to be made available to relevant stakeholders to enhance future research.