Abstract
Recent advances in the economics of knowledge are raising questions related to the current intellectual property regime. This paper discusses the foundations of the appropriability trade-off, highlights the crucial distinction between inter- and intra-industry spillovers, and advocates the introduction of patents based on a combination of property and liability rules. These two-layered patents would include: (i) exclusive protection which applies the property rule to intra-industry spillovers: Rivals and competitors in the same product market would be unable to use proprietary patented knowledge without authorization from the patent holder which had exclusive intellectual property rights on its knowledge, and (ii) non-exclusive patents characterized by compulsory licensing which applies the liability rule to inter-industry spillovers. Prospective users of proprietary knowledge to generate new knowledge for innovation in other product markets, can access proprietary knowledge, for a royalty fee charged by the patent holder.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antonelli, C. (2007). Knowledge as an essential facility. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 17(4), 451–471.
Antonelli, C. (2015). Towards non exclusive intellectual property rights. In C. Antonelli & A. Link (Eds.), Handbook on the economics of knowledge (pp. 209–231). London: Routledge.
Antonelli, C. (2017). Endogenous innovation: The economics of an emergent system property. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Antonelli, C. (2018a). Knowledge properties and economic policy: A new look. Science and Public Policy, 45(2), 151–158.
Antonelli, C. (2018b). Knowledge exhaustibility and Schumpeterian growth. Journal of Technology Transfer, 43(3), 779–791.
Arrow, K. J. (1962). Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for invention. In R. R. Nelson (Ed.), The rate and direction of inventive activity: Economic and social factors (pp. 609–625). Princeton: Princeton University Press for NBER.
Bielig, A. (2015). Intellectual property and economic development: Empirical evidence in Germany for 1999–2009. European Journal of Law and Economics, 39, 607–622.
Bloom, N., Schankerman, M., & Van Reenen, J. (2013). Identifying technology spillovers and product market rivalry. Econometrica, 81(4), 1347–1393.
Bresnahan, T. F., & Trajtenberg, M. (1995). General purpose technologies: Engines of growth. Journal of Econometrics, 65(1), 83–108.
Cremers, K., Ernicke, M., Gaessler, F., et al. (2017). Patent litigation in Europe. European Journal of Law and Economics, 44(1), 1–44.
David, P. A., & Hall, B. H. (2006). Property and the pursuit of knowledge: IPR issues affecting scientific research. Research Policy, 35, 771–776.
Geroski, P. A. (1995). Markets for technology: Knowledge, innovation and appropriability. In P. Stoneman (Ed.), Handbook of the economics of innovation and technological change (pp. 90–131). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Gilbert, R., & Shapiro, C. (1990). Optimal patent length and breadth. RAND Journal of Economics, 21(1), 106–112.
Green, J. R., & Scotchmer, S. (1995). On the division of profit in sequential innovation. RAND Journal of Economics, 26(1), 20–33.
Griliches, Z. (1979). Issues in assessing the contribution of research and development to productivity growth. Bell Journal of Economics, 10(1), 92–116.
Griliches, Z. (Ed.). (1984). R&D patents and productivity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press for NBER.
Griliches, Z. (1986). Productivity R&D and basic research at the firm level in the 1970s. American Economic Review, 77(1), 141–154.
Griliches, Z. (1992). The search for R&D spillovers. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 94(Supplement), 29–47.
Heller, M. A., & Eisenberg, R. S. (1998). Can patents deter innovation? The anticommons in biomedical research. Science, 280, 698–701.
Helpman, E. (Ed.). (1998). General purpose technologies and economic growth. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Laitner, J., & Stolyarov, D. (2013). Derivative ideas and the value of intangible assets. International Economic Review, 54(1), 59–95.
Lipsey, R., Carlaw, K. I., & Bekhar, C. T. (2005). Economic transformations: General purpose technologies and long term economic growth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mosel, M. (2011). Competition imitation, and R&D productivity in a growth model with industry -specific patent protection. Review of Law and Economics, 7(2), 601–652.
O’Donoghue, T., Scotchmer, S., & Thisse, J. F. (1998). Patent breadth patent life and the pace of technological progress. Journal of Economics and Management, 7(1), 1–32.
Polanki, A. (2007). Is the general public license a rational choice? Journal of Industrial Economics, 55(4), 691–714.
Reichman, J. (2000). ‘Of green tulips and legal kudzu’: Repackaging rights in subpatentable invention. Vanderbilt Law Review, 53, 17–43.
Reichman, J., & Maskus, K. (Eds.). (2005). International public goods and transfer of technology under a globalized intellectual property regime. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scotchmer, S. (1999). On the optimality of the patent renewal system. RAND Journal of Economics, 30(2), 181–196.
Scotchmer, S. (2004). Innovation and incentives. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Scotchmer, S. (2010). Openess open source and the veil of ignorance. American Economic Review, 100, 165–171.
Sterlacchini, A. (2016). Patent oppositions and opposition outcomes: Evidence from domestic appliance companies. European Journal of Law and Economics, 41, 183–203.
Stiglitz, J. E. (2017). Towards a broader view of competition policy. In Roosevelt institute working paper.
Stiglitz, J. E., & Greenwald, B. C. (2014). Creating a learning society: A new approach to growth, development, and social progress. New York: Columbia University Press.
Tirole, J. (1988). The theory of industrial organization. Cambrige: MIT Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Antonelli, C. A reappraisal of the Arrovian postulate and the intellectual property regime: user-specific patents. Eur J Law Econ 47, 377–388 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10657-019-09617-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10657-019-09617-6
Keywords
- Arrovian postulate
- Appropriability trade-off
- Inter-industry versus intra-industry spillovers
- User-specific patents