Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP7029
Authors: Gatan De Rassenfosse; Bruno Van Pottelsberghe
Abstract: This paper investigates whether patent fee policies are a potential factor underlying the boom in patent applications observed in major patent offices. We provide the first panel-based evidence suggesting that fees affect the demand for patents in three major patent offices (EPO, USPTO and JPO), with a price elasticity of about -0.4 (similar to that of the residential demand for oil or water). The laxity of fee policies adopted by patent offices over the past 25 years therefore contributed, to a significant extent, to the rising propensity to patent observed since the mid-nineties. This is especially true at the European Patent Office, which has dramatically decreased its fees since the mid-1990s.
Keywords: patent cost; patent systems; patenting fees; price elasticity; propensity to patent
JEL Codes: O30; O31; O34; O38; O58
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| significant drop in fees at EPO (K29) | boom in patenting (O34) |
| lower patent fees (D45) | increased propensity to patent (O34) |
| increased patent fees (O34) | decreased patent applications (O34) |
| patent fees (D45) | number of patents applied for (O34) |