Patent Grants Research Articles

The Impact of Talent Attraction Policies on Housing Prices in Haikou, Nanjing, and Wuhan

In the context of escalating global urban competition, attracting top talent has become essential for cities to boost economic competitiveness. Talent attraction policies significantly impact local economies and real estate markets by driving population growth and enhancing urban innovation. Talent attraction programs profoundly influence local economies and real estate markets by stimulating population expansion and fostering urban innovation. This study focuses on Haikou, Nanjing, and Wuhan, using empirical methods to analyze the impact of talent attraction policies on housing prices. Through parallel trends tests and group regression analyses, results show that these policies significantly affect housing prices, with policy implementation leading to notable price increases. Additionally, mediating effects analysis indicates that research and development levels and patent grants mediate the relationship between talent attraction policies and housing prices, highlighting innovation as a key mechanism. Placebo tests confirm the validity of these policy effects, revealing no significant impacts outside the implementation periods. This paper advises governments to refine policy measures, balance real estate market health with talent attraction, and enhance investments in research infrastructure for sustainable urban economic growth.

Molecular Diagnostic Patenting After Mayo v. Prometheus: An Empirical Analysis

ABSTRACTSince the United States Supreme Court's 2012 decision in Mayo v. Prometheus announced a new legal test for patent‐eligible subject matter, policymakers, and scholars have vigorously debated the decision's impact on molecular diagnostics innovation. Molecular diagnostics serve as the cornerstone of personalized medicine and its promise of treatments with fewer side effects and better outcomes for patients. This article contributes to the presently thin evidence base on the impact of Mayo by using data on patent applications, examinations, and grants from 2010 to 2019 to comprehensively trace the effects of the test and subsequent related developments. Using descriptive data as well as a difference‐in‐difference (DID) design we evaluate the extent to which the decision was followed by one of three expected outcomes: a decline in patent quantity (“retrenchment”); increase in patent prosecution “toughness”; and applicant “adaptation” with respect to submitted claims. We find substantial support for our toughness and adaptation hypotheses, but not our retrenchment hypothesis: molecular diagnostic patenting did not decline in aggregate, though there is some evidence of a decline, relative to a control, in the number of diagnostic patent applications and grants associated with small, U.S.‐based firms. These results suggest that molecular diagnostic patents are harder to get but they are still being applied for and granted, with their narrowed scope making them less likely to block follow on innovation.

Invention Patent’s Capability for Differentiating Stock Return Rates - Patent Informatics on Manufacturing Industries

Abstract More than 25 thousand Chinese listed companies in top ten manufacturing industry sectors from 2017 to 2021 were selected to explore the industry differences via the tool of analysis of variation (ANOVA) on China invention grant patents including the patent quantity, the varying trend of patent counts, and the capability for differentiating the stock return rate. The patent count of invention grants well showed the capability of differentiating the stock return rate for one industry sector, preferably showed the capability for two industry sectors, fairly showed the capability for three industry sectors, and partially showed the capability for four industry sectors. The manufacturing industry sectors with significantly increased invention grant’s patent count means since 2017 showed higher relevance to the capability. The manufacturing industry sectors of higher patent count means also showed higher relevance to the capability. The manufacturing industry sectors of higher/lower stock return rate means did not show relevance to the capability. However, every manufacturing industry sector had its particularity. The industry difference on the invention grant patents among ten manufacturing industry sectors in China stock market was distinct. JEL classification numbers: C38, C46, G11, G12. Keywords: Invention grant patent, ANOVA, Stock return rate, Manufacturing industry.

The Spatiotemporal Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Unicorn Companies and Gazelle Companies in Jiangsu Province

In recent years, Jiangsu Province has increasingly prioritized the coordinated regional development of innovation. Unicorn and gazelle companies, characterized by technological or business model innovation, serve as significant indicators of regional innovation capacity. Therefore, this study uses unicorn and gazelle companies recognized between 2020 and 2022 in Jiangsu Province as samples, employing ArcGIS and geographical detectors to investigate the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of these companies, and to propose optimization strategies, with the aim of assessing the innovation landscape of Jiangsu Province. The key findings and conclusions are as follows: (1) over the past three years, the average nearest-neighbor distance decreased from 10.491 km to 1.706 km, indicating a significant spatial agglomeration; the peak core density of business clusters increased substantially, reflecting the growth in the number of companies as clustering deepened. (2) Unicorns and gazelles exhibit clear clustering characteristics. The standard deviation ellipse of unicorns is centered around Suzhou, while gazelles display a continuous distribution pattern in Southern and Central Jiangsu. (3) Geographical detector analysis reveals that the level of urban technological innovation is the most influential factor, with key determinants of distribution including total retail sales and patent grants. (4) To foster the development of unicorn and gazelle companies in Jiangsu, the government should focus on enhancing regional innovation capacity, ensuring the sustainable nurturing of innovative firms, and promoting the catalytic development of surrounding areas through core cities.

The Transformative Patent Landscape in Saudi Arabia Since the Saudi Vision 2030 Announcement

This study analyzes the patent landscape of Saudi Arabia from the announcement of Saudi Vision 2030 in late April 2016 to September 2024, utilizing the Patsnap database to evaluate patent grants across various organizations. The findings reveal a gradual increase in patent registrations, with Saudi Aramco leading in patent grants, followed by King Faisal University (KFU), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and King Abdulaziz University (KAU). SABIC, a prominent industry player in Saudi Arabia, has registered most of its patents using its European Head Office address and holds extensive collaborations with international partners, generating numerous patents. The analysis identifies the top patent offices where KSA organizations seek protection, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), European Patent Office (EPO), the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. However, the limited number of registrations at the SAIP highlights a need for improvement. The primary application domains encompass borehole/well accessories, measurement devices, organic chemistry, computing, and chemical/physical processes. The landscape reveals that Saudi Aramco and KFUPM focus predominantly on upstream and downstream technologies, while KAU, KFU, and KAUST concentrate on life sciences. Key findings indicate a significant increase in patent activity since the vision announcement, suggesting a growing focus on innovation within Saudi Arabia. However, the concentration of patents among a few major players (Saudi Aramco and SABIC) and the underrepresentation of patents filed with the Saudi Authority of Intellectual Property (SAIP) highlight areas for improvement. This study emphasizes the necessity to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and healthcare research institutions to foster broader participation in innovation and protect novel technologies. This research contributes valuable insights into the current state of patenting activities in Saudi Arabia and outlines opportunities for enhancing the country’s innovation ecosystem.

Exploring Valuable Indicators for Classifying Strong and Weak Patents Based on Invalidation Reexamination Decisions

Abstract Based on 8,666 invalidation reexamined China invention grant patents of decision dates from 2000 to 2021, the effect and value of eight indicators for classifying strong and weak patents in nine technology areas, including overall technology and eight technology sections, was thoroughly analyzed via ANOVA. Two high valuable indicators including abstract word count and examination duration for classification were found, which respectively showed significance in five technology areas. Four less valuable indicators, including claim count, figure count, inventor count and IPC count, were found to respectively show significance in one or two technology areas. A valueless indicator of applicant count was found to show none of significance in any technology areas. The strong patents did not always show higher indicator means of significance. Especially for the high valuable indicator of examination duration, the strong patents showed lower means in any of five technology areas of significance. The finding of this research would contribute the state of art in evaluating patents and help patent owners improve their patent asset management strategy. JEL classification numbers: C38, C46, G11, G12.

The American Inventors Protection Act and the staggered market reaction to patent grants

The American Inventors Protection Act and the staggered market reaction to patent grants

How do corporate patenting strategies adapt to public health crises?

ABSTRACT By exploiting the health emergencies in China, we investigate the strategic reactions concerning patenting strategies to public health crises. Results show that firms maintained innovation input levels during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) period. Moreover, firms relied more on past technological paths and became technologically more specialized, as responses to SARS. In addition, we find that the main effects are weaker among pharmaceutical companies and that there is a positive treatment effect on invention patent applications and grants. Our findings remain valid after accounting for potential endogeneity problems with a variety of robustness tests.

Dual-Credit Policy of New Energy Automobiles in China: Corporate Innovation Capability

This study investigates the impact of China’s Dual-Credit Policy on innovation capability in the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry using a difference-in-differences approach with dynamic panel data from 2013 to 2022. We employ multiple innovation measures, including patent counts, valid invention patents, and patent grant rates. Our findings reveal that the policy has a positive and significant effect on NEV innovation, partially mediated by R&D investment. Using GMM estimation to address endogeneity, we find the policy effect varies across subgroups based on location, ESG rating, and ownership type. Dynamic effect analysis shows the policy’s impact intensifies over time. Threshold effect analysis identifies a critical policy intensity level beyond which innovation effects are amplified. Our results have implications for policymakers in designing effective innovation incentives and for firms in strategically responding to regulatory changes in the NEV sector.

Causal links between patents and economic growth: empirical evidence from OECD countries

Objective of the Study: This paper empirically investigates the reciprocal relationship and causality between patents and economic growth. Methodology/Approach: Utilizing the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) and panel VAR-Granger Causality frameworks, the study concentrates on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies where a high fraction of global innovative activities take place. Originality/Relevance: The relationship and causality between patents and economic growth are investigated and evaluated by distinguishing the former variable into patent applications and grants. Main Results: The findings from the GMM panel VAR approach indicate that patent applications and grants significantly affect economic growth, whereas economic activities do not influence patent-related variables. The estimations from the panel VAR-Granger approach confirm these findings by presenting a unidirectional causality from patent applications and grants to economic growth. The impulse-response functions (IRFs) exhibit parallel findings, and further checks validate the stability of the findings obtained. The outcomes of this study point out two crucial implications. First, the impacts of patent applications and grants affect economic growth similarly while the impact of patent grants lasts longer. Second, while patents cause higher economic activity, the latter does not induce innovative activity through patents in the OECD. Theoretical/Methodological Contributions: It would be useful to conduct separate analyses for a selected product, sector, or country by including research and development (R&D) expenditures for different periods, country groups, and analysis methods. Social/Management Contributions: Countries should prioritize the establishment of an effective patent management system that will increase the pace of innovation and the implementation of incentive policies for the development of high-value-added technology products. JEL Classifications: O34, O40, O50, C23

Climate disasters and processing of green patents

AbstractUsing Chinese data, this paper reveals that climate disaster events have a positive impact on the granting of green invention patents. The occurrence of climate disasters leads the patent‐granting officials to overestimate the likelihood of disaster recurrence, strengthens their perception of environmental protection as urgent, and consequently increases the number of patents that they grant. Salience bias, the tendency to overestimate probabilities due to the occurrence of salient events, is widely studied in psychology and behavioral finance. This paper extends this research by examining the influence of salience bias on people's behavior in processing green invention patents, with a specific focus on climate disaster events in Beijing, the headquarters of China's patent examination authority. In addition to the overall positive impact on granted patent numbers, the paper finds that (i) the influence of salience bias is temporary, with a more pronounced effect on energy‐saving patents than on other categories of patents, and (ii) the primary effect is on green invention patents filed by firms in Beijing, with the effect of salience bias rapidly diminishing as the distance of the application city from Beijing increases.

An investigation into the relationship between quality and commercialisation channel of university patents

ABSTRACT We investigate how patent quality is correlated with different commercialisation channels for university patents. A dataset of 2052 university patents, including the market price of patents, is employed for the empirical analysis. We find that patents with more claims are less likely to be sold but more likely to be licensed, meaning that the decision of patent license is focused more on the patent’s legal stability. Furthermore, patents with more IPC classes and broader scope are more likely to be sold, meaning that the decision of patent selling is focused more on the potential of the patent to be used in different areas. The price of sold patents is positively correlated with the number of claims, number of IPC classes, scope, and family size, whereas the price of licensed patents is positively correlated with the forward citations they receive and family size. Considering the time effect of patent grants and patent commercialisation, pre-grant patents are more likely to be commercialised by selling them at a price higher than granted patents, and patents with more claims tend to be commercialised for a shorter duration.

Identifikasi Non-Added Value Activity Dalam Proses Pemeriksaan Substantif Permohonan Paten Menggunakan Value Stream Mapping

The process of substantive patent examination which is complicated and takes a long time is one of the reasons the inventor is "reluctant" to apply for a patent on his invention. This research was conducted using the Current State Value Stream Mapping (CSVSM) method, which began with the creation of a process flow map with the cycle time of each activity. It is known that most of the activities are value added activities. However, there is 1 activity that is required but not added value, namely the activity of verifying the technical field of application documents; and 1 non-value-added activity, namely initialing the Patent Granting letter. The number of waiting/delaying incidents is a waste in the process of substantive examination of patent applications caused by: (a) employees generally do double work; and (b) the absence of SOPs in each sub-process/sub-activity in the process of substantive examination of patent applications. Proposed improvements are submitted in the Future State Value Stream Mapping (FSVSM). As a result, lead-time can be reduced to 11 days, which was originally 26 days; and Process Cycle Efficiency which was originally 19.23% increased to 45.45%

Pharmaceutical exports and patents in India – a systems approach

PurposeThe Indian pharmaceutical industry currently faces multiple challenges, including rising costs and slowing export growth, which in turn have limited its ability to expand presence in global canvas. Given the nature of sectoral dynamics, a pharmaceutical firm must undertake huge investments in R&D to introduce product innovation, in turn enhancing market share and sustaining profit streams. The development of novel medicines, confirmed by the granting of patent rights, provides a pharma company edge over its competitors. In addition, presence of innovator firms within the industry invigorates the sectoral value chain and raises efficiency. Hence, it is important to analyze whether granting patent rights enhances the exports of pharmaceutical products in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThe current study explored this question using a simultaneous-equation framework. Specifically, the authors use the methods developed by Davidson and MacKinnon (1993) and Greene (2003) to obtain heteroscedasticity-consistent estimates. The time-series properties of the data were further probed, and robust estimates were used to test the theory. Methods developed by Baltagi (1981) have been used further to refine the authors’ estimations.FindingsAfter controlling for relevant variables, it is observed that granting of patents caused a significantly positive impact on pharmaceutical exports. Furthermore, the change in the patent administration regime had a significant impact on patent fillings, which further impacted their exportability. Compared to patents granted patents filed had a higher impact on pharmaceutical exports.Originality/valueThis study attempts to apply the framework developed by Goldstein and Khan (1978) with necessary modifications to suit the context of a developing country. The application of the 3SLS method to estimate the export supply equation for pharmaceutical products is a novel approach to the research question in general and to the Indian context in particular. System autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity tests were performed to refine the results further.

How sensitive is the financial market to potential signals from the European patent grant procedure for American companies?

How sensitive is the financial market to potential signals from the European patent grant procedure for American companies?

Convergence analysis of artificial intelligence research capacity: Are the less developed catching up with the developed ones?

AbstractThis study examines whether less developed countries are catching up with developed ones using the log t convergence technique (LCT) and the dynamic spatial ordered probit (DSOP) model. The findings revealed that first, there is no overall convergence in AI research capacity. Second, club clustering analysis showed convergence in four of the five groups of countries on AI research output and in three of the four groups on AI patent grants. Third, the countries are experiencing a slow divergence process in AI research capacity. Fourth, the region, income group and cluster of the countries are influencing the convergence process.

Is there a secular decline in disruptive patents? Correcting for measurement bias

Is there a secular decline in disruptive patents? Correcting for measurement bias

A Comprehensive Review of Patented Antimicrobial Peptides from Amphibian Anurans.

Since the 1980s, studies of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) derived from anuran skin secretions have unveiled remarkable structural diversity and a wide range of activities. This study explores the potential of these peptides for drug development by examining granted patents, amino acid modifications related to patented peptides, and recent amphibians' taxonomic updates influencing AMP names. A total of 188 granted patents related to different anuran peptides were found, with Asia and North America being the predominant regions, contributing 65.4% and 15.4%, respectively. Conversely, although the Neotropical region is the world's most diversified region for amphibians, it holds only 3.7% of the identified patents. The antimicrobial activities of the peptides are claimed in 118 of these 188 patents. Additionally, for 160 of these peptides, 66 patents were registered for the natural sequence, 69 for both natural and derivative sequences, and 20 exclusively for sequence derivatives. Notably, common modifications include alterations in the side chains of amino acids and modifications to the peptides' N- and C-termini. This review underscores the biomedical potential of anuran-derived AMPs, emphasizing the need to bridge the gap between AMP description and practical drug development while highlighting the urgency of biodiversity conservation to facilitate biomedical discoveries.

PATENT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT: ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Patent is a very assuring yet delicate right. The commercial monopoly it brings along with itself is strong enough to attract inventors and investors in creation of new inventions but the legal aspects of a patent needs smart and efficient management to protect the invention and make it capable enough for the grant of patent. This process is called patent portfolio management and goes hand in hand with each step of the product development. Being a commercial right, it is very important to package the patent attractively and smartly so that it not just protects itself from infringement but also appeals well to the relevant consumer market. This management can be done by patent portfolio managers who must carry knowledge of multiple disciplines like IP Analysis, Data Mining and IP Database Management with themselves. This is a new emerging field that holds great potential for new professional and also assists inventors in protecting their invention at every stage of product development. This paper explains the process and various phases of Patent Portfolio Management and the related aspects in detail and also the challenges involved.

Corporate digitalization and green innovation: Evidence from textual analysis of firm annual reports and corporate green patent data in China

AbstractWe investigate the effect of corporate digitalization capabilities on green innovation among Chinese‐listed firms. Using a panel dataset of 2908 companies from 2011 to 2020, we use textual analysis and entropy weighting on corporate annual reports to construct a yearly corporate digitalization index. Our findings show that corporate digitalization promotes green innovation, as evidenced by patent applications and grants. This relationship is stronger for firms with fewer financial constraints and in provinces with strong intellectual property protection. We also find the national digital policy of the “Internet Plus” strategy has a stronger positive effect on corporate green innovation for corporations with a higher degree of digitalization. Our results are robust to various alternative measures, econometric models, and different samples.