Survey Of Inventors Research Articles

Assessing the value of China's patented inventions

This study provides one of the first systematic and direct assessments of the value of China's inventions and examines the strategic factors influencing their value, using patents granted to firms by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). To do this, we first review the theoretical background of these factors and the inventor survey approach to estimating patent value. We then conduct the analysis using the large-scale, comprehensive annual Inventors Survey database (ISDB) collected by CNIPA, which consists of 12,869 firms linked to 30,693 patents granted between 2010 and 2012. We find that the median and average revenues from firms’ implementation of their patents are RMB 0.75 million and 8.04 million respectively. Furthermore, we find that patents involving higher R&D investments, invention patents, patents essential to standards and belonging to patent pools command a higher value. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) produce lower value patented inventions relative to domestic private firms and foreign firms. Larger firms and those with intellectual property departments and aggressive in patent litigation have higher value inventions. Our findings yield important theoretical, methodological and policy implications.

Imprints from idea origin on innovation and the development environment

AbstractThis study builds on the evolutionary and organization literatures to explore how the nature of innovation outcomes was influenced by the innovation’s original idea and the environment in which it was developed. We use data from a survey of inventors on the development processes of three types of innovations: market success innovations, technologically novel innovations, and innovations that are both technologically novel and of market success. Our results suggest that the environment in which the project is developed erodes the effect of the original knowledge sources on the innovation outcome. Specifically, a stronger imprinting effect of knowledge sources is found for independent inventors, while ideas are more likely to be eroded in projects undertaken by inventors at technology leader firms.

Firm strategic behavior and the measurement of knowledge flows with patent citations

Research SummaryThis research addresses firms' use of external knowledge sources to develop patented inventions and explores the validity of patent citations as an indicator of interfirm knowledge flows. By comparing patent citations with primary data reported by the inventors, we uncover systematic measurement errors in patent citations and show that they depend on the firms' patent strategies (e.g., to reduce the risk of imitation or litigation), the source of knowledge employed (e.g., competitors, users), the technology of the underlying invention, and the institutional characteristics of the patent system. Our findings about the role of these factors in external knowledge sourcing and citing propensity highlight the importance of firms' strategic behavior and offer novel insights for the use of patent citations as an indicator of knowledge flows. Managerial SummaryFirms' open innovation strategies rely on the sourcing of knowledge from other organizations. Tracing these knowledge flows is difficult, such that the empirical research on this matter typically uses citations that patents make to prior art in order to track them. However, patent citations might be added also for reasons other than the actual transfer of knowledge. We use primary information from a large survey of inventors to assess the accuracy of patent citations to measure knowledge flows, and we find evidence of measurement errors that depend on the applicants' patent strategies, the type of knowledge sources used, the filing jurisdiction, and the technology of the underlying invention. We offer insights to evaluate the settings in which patent citations are a reliable measure of knowledge flows.

Technology spin-offs: teamwork, autonomy, and the exploitation of business opportunities

This study analyzes the antecedents of technology spin-off resulting from the exploitation of patented technology developed in established firms and then transferred to a new organization. We hypothesize and empirically examine how teamwork and autonomy, two key dimensions of the established organization’s inventive activity, correlate with spin-off formation. The results, based on a large-scale survey of inventors, show that (1) inventive activities organized as teamwork are less likely to engender the creation of a new firm and (2) granting strategic autonomy increases the likelihood of a spin-off whereas structural autonomy decreases the chances of a spin-off.

The economic value of patent portfolios

AbstractPatent holders may choose to protect innovations with single patents or to develop portfolios of multiple, related patents. We propose a decision‐making model in which patent holders allocate resources to either expanding the number of related patents or investing in higher value of patents in the portfolio. We estimate the derived value equation using portfolio value data from an inventor survey at the level of individual inventions rather than the firm as a whole. We find that investments in individual inventions exhibit diminishing returns, and that a good part of the value of a portfolio depends on adding new patented inventions. Also, while diminishing returns to individual inventions are stable across subsamples, the returns to portfolio size vary between complex and discrete industries, and between inventions that are science‐based or driven by customer information. When firms seek to strengthen appropriability, the returns to an increase of portfolio size are not different from the sample average. Thus, a higher number of inventions in a portfolio may reflect both stronger appropriability via patents and genuine creation of value.

Invisible Constraints: The Relationship among Non-Competition Agreements, Inventor Mobility, and Patent Commercialization

To advance our understanding of the institutional-level influence of intellectual property policies on innovation, this article investigates a set of hypotheses questioning the links between state-level non-competition agreements, inventor mobility, and patent commercialization. It uses US inventor survey data covering a sample of 1,900 triadic patents. Results provide some evidence in support of the prevalent, yet under-researched, proposition that mobile inventors perform better than non-mobile ones in terms of commercialization activity. This article also finds that the severity of judicial enforcement of non-competition agreements has hampered the positive contribution of inventor mobility to invention commercialization and concludes that legal infrastructure is a crucial factor in innovation and invention success stories. Findings, therefore, have considerable policy implications with respect to the role of the judiciary in the enforcement of non-competition agreements.

Used, blocking and sleeping patents: Empirical evidence from a large-scale inventor survey

This paper employs data from a large-scale survey (InnoS&T) of inventors in Europe, the USA, and Japan who were listed in patent applications filed at the European Patent Office with priority years between 2003 and 2005. We provide evidence regarding the reasons for patenting and the ways in which patents are being utilized. A substantial share of patents is neither used internally nor for market transactions, which confirms the importance of strategic patenting and inefficiency in the management of intellectual property. We investigate different types of unused patents—unused blocking patents and sleeping patents. We also examine the association between used and unused patents and their characteristics such as family size, scope, generality and overlapping claims, technology area, type of applicant, and the competitive environment from where these patents originate. We discuss our results and derive some implications for innovation and patent policy.

Engineer/scientist careers: Patents, online profiles, and misclassification bias

Research summary: This article applies data from LinkedIn to advance strategy research into the effect of human capital on mobility of engineers and scientists. Through an inventor survey, we show that LinkedIn provides more accurate career histories than patents. Compared to LinkedIn, patent measures of mobility generate 12 percent false positives and 83 percent false negatives. Using LinkedIn, we review findings from previous research using patents to track the effect of human capital on mobility. One previous finding is robust: that mobility is higher in Silicon Valley than elsewhere. Other findings are possibly sensitive to the measure of mobility or sample selection. We interpret our results as the outcome of targeted retention of human capital. Data for this study may be accessed at FIVE, five.dartmouth.edu.Managerial summary: How does the mobility of engineers and scientists depend on their human capital? Previous research used patents to track inventor mobility and concluded that employers targeted inventors for recruitment by their human capital. Here, we introduce data from LinkedIn to review the previous research. Through an inventor survey, we show that LinkedIn provides more accurate career histories than patents. Compared to LinkedIn, patent measures of mobility generate 12 percent false positives and 82 percent false negatives. Among the previous findings, we show that one is robust: mobility is higher among inventors in Silicon Valley than elsewhere. Other findings are possibly sensitive to the measure of mobility or sample selection. Our results suggest that current employers target engineers and scientists for retention according to their human capital. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Engineer/Scientist Careers: Patents, Online Profiles, and Misclassification Bias

Through an inventor survey, we find substantial error in tracking mobility of engineers and scientists by patents. These errors cause misclassification of mobility -- false positives (wrongly recording change of employer), and false negatives (failing to record change of employer). Errors are higher among inventors with shorter patent careers. Econometric theory shows that misclassification of the dependent variable causes systematic bias in regression estimates (not merely attenuation). We introduce LinkedIn as a more accurate source of career data. Taking LinkedIn as a benchmark, the rate of false positives in patent measures of mobility is 12 percent, while the rate of false negatives is 83 percent. Measuring mobility by LinkedIn, we investigate the effect of aspects of human capital previously found to affect mobility. One previous finding is robust: that mobility is higher among Silicon Valley inventors than those elsewhere. Other findings are sensitive to sample or misclassification. We interpret our results as the outcome of targeted retention of human capital.

Micro-Organization of Innovative Projects; Delegation and the Direction of Innovative Output

Delegation of autonomy to employees is an important job dimension for knowledge-intensive activities where the tasks are less routine and is scheduled and there is much room for creativity. Yet, it is not clear how delegation impacts the characteristics of innovative output especially at the project-level. In this article, we focus on innovative projects and discuss two main mechanism that autonomy impacts the innovative output through them; the effort mechanism and the control mechanism. Using a novel dataset based on a survey of inventors, we test our theory and find that delegation of autonomy increase the scientific value of the project, however its effect on the commercial value is mixed and often negative. Discussing the reasons why companies decide to bear this cost for delegation, we show that the impact of autonomy on commercial value also depends on the fit between the employee and the assigned project.

Structural modeling of the value of patent

There is a considerable volume of prior research on the relationship between innovation and patents. Those research studies reveal that patents contain a great deal of noise, and unless a correction is made in terms of the value of individual patents, a simple count of the number of patents does not constitute a very useful indicator. From research that has been conducted for the purpose of finding such an indicator to show the value of individual patents (that is, research to identify the characteristics of valuable patents), many kinds of value indicators have been proposed. Nevertheless, research hitherto has focused primarily on business or private value derived from the possession of patents, and little attention has been paid to value in terms of technical knowledge or social value. In a survey of inventors conducted by RIETI in 2007, terminology describing broad concepts was used when questioning inventors about the value of individual patents, and this has provided an excellent opportunity to analyze the multiple factors lying behind the value of patents and how they impact one another. The purpose of this research is to use data from the RIETI survey of inventors and structural equation modeling methods to elucidate the relationships between the technological and business value of patents, and the latent factors that influence them. The findings show that a scientific-technological motive for inventors would have a positive effect on both the business and technological value, meanwhile, the monetary or promotion motive would not have any direct effects on the value of a patent. The model also suggests that academic linkage would have a strong positive effect on the technological value but a weak negative effect on the business value. Furthermore, these relationships differ more markedly according to technological field.

특허 품질과 수량의 결정 요인으로서의 직무발명보상제도 : Findings of Inventor Survey in Korea

The current paper attempts to explore the employees’ inventor compensation plan in Korea using a comprehensive data set of Korean inventor survey in 2009. It aims to empirically examine the effect of the compensation plan on the innovations of Korean inventors. This paper finds that the compensation plan has a positive link with inventors’ performance; in particular, the high rate of compensation increases the quality of innovation. Furthermore, this paper extends its discussion to nonmonetary compensation types as well as monetary compensation. By examining the inventors’ various preferences for invention compensation, we find that the inventors of the private firms with greater preference for monetary compensation produce more patents, whereas those with greater preference for advantages in career produce more valuable patents. Second, inventors employed in public organizations with preferences for selfsatisfaction by technical proof are more likely to conduct research on more advanced and challenging te chnologies. This implies that employees’ invention compensation plan has room for further discussion on the types of non-monetary as well as monetary compensation.

Estimating the patent premium: Evidence from the Australian Inventor Survey

AbstractIn this paper we use novel survey data on 1,790 Australian inventions to estimate the average patent premium, which provides an important benchmark for technology managers and IP professionals. Our data are drawn from the Australian Inventor Survey, which was sent to all Australian applicants who submitted a patent application to the Australian Patent Office from 1986 to 2005. Since some patent applications were unsuccessful, we have information about the private value of both patented and unpatented inventions. Our results suggest that the presence of a patent increases the returns to an invention by around 40 to 50 percent regardless of how we define ‘value.’ Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Drivers of Innovation and Influence of Technological Clusters

:Innovation is the engine of economic growth and competitive advantage. Naturally, understanding the drivers of innovation and creating an environment to promote innovation and technology breakthroughs are of great interest to R&D managers. A body of knowledge has evolved around the geographic agglomeration of firms and the effect of localized knowledge spillovers on innovation. While the existing literature supports the notion that clustering results in increased innovation output, little is known about the specific mechanisms by which knowledge is exchanged in these areas and the dynamics that lead to increased innovation generated by companies operating in such environments. This article discusses knowledge transformation in the innovation process and how it relates to localization. The authors present the results of a survey of inventors in the telecom industry, assessing the factors that influence innovation within and outside technological clusters.

Towards hybrid Triple Helix indicators: A study of university-related patents and a survey of academic inventors

This paper presents work directed at capturing the entrepreneurial and collaborative activity of university researchers. The Triple Helix points to the emergence of the entrepreneurial university as well as to an increasing overlay of activities in universities, industry and government. This study explores ways in which patent-based metrics could be utilized in a Triple Helix context, and how hybrid indicators could be developed by combining patent with survey data. More specifically, it aims to develop indicators that connect technological inventiveness of university researchers to both funding organizations and users, as well as to entrepreneurial activities by academics. The paper develops a simplified model of the innovation process to benchmark the relevance of the indicators to the Triple Helix. An analysis of Finnish academic patents illustrates that patent data can already provide useful indicators but, on its own, cannot provide information about how academic patents are interconnected with government or industry through funding or utilization links. An exclusive analysis of patents can point to patent concentrations on certain universities, to inventors and assignees, or to potential gaps in translating applied science into industrial technology. However, the patent data had to be combined with an inventor survey in order to relate academic patents more to their Triple Helix environment. The survey indicated that most patented academic inventions are connected to (often publicly funded) scientific research by the inventors and tend to be utilized in large firms rather than in start-up companies founded by academic entrepreneurs.

Knowledge Spillovers and Patent Citations: Evidence from a Survey of Inventors

It is well understood that the non-rival nature of as a productive asset creates the possibility of knowledge spillovers, whereby investments in creation by one party produce external benefits by facilitating innovation by other parties. At least since Zvi Griliches's (1979) seminal on measuring the contributions of R&D to economic growth, economists have been attempting to quantify the extent and impact of spillovers. One line of research of this type has utilized patent citations to identify a paper trail that may be associated with flows between firms.' Very little of this research has attempted to determine the modes or mechanisms of communication that actually permit to flow. Further, most of the work has simply assumed that citations or other proxies are sufficiently correlated with flows to allow statistical analysis of the proxies to be informative regarding the underlying phenomenon of interest. This reports on a preliminary attempt to improve this situation. The idea for this survey came from R&D managers whom we were interviewing to test whether the picture of flows produced by patent citations was consistent with the managers' impressions. One of these managers commented that he could not let us talk to the scientists who worked for him, but that he could not stop uls from contacting them via the postal address that appears on their issued patents. The survey results suggest that communication between inventors is reasonably irnportant, and that patent citations do provide an indication of communication, albeit one that also carries a fair amount of noise.