A Natural Experiment on Innovation Without Patents
View/ Open
Issue Date
2015-05-07Author
Torrance, Andrew W.
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Version
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2605055
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Innovation occurs within a complex web of law. Of the myriad legal doctrines that affect innovation, the most directly relevant is intellectual property, particularly patent law. The United States Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, states a strong public policy goal for the granting of patents (and copyrights) to inventors: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Despite the Founding Fathers’ apparent faith in the societal benefits afforded by patent protection, a crescendo of recent critics have accused the patent system of complicating, slowing, or even thwarting innovation. Patents certainly present significant hurdles for open and user innovation. Moreover, von Hippel (2005) and Strandburg (2008) have demonstrated that user innovators, especially individuals, tend to be poorly served, and often harmed, by the patent system.
Collections
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.