IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/bejeap/vcontributions.1y2002i1n9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Patent Theory versus Patent Law

Author

Listed:
  • Tabarrok Alexander

    (George Mason University)

Abstract

According to the economic theory of patents, patents are needed so that pioneer firm have time to recoup their sunk costs of research and development. The key element in the economic theory is that pioneer firms have large, hard to recoup, sunk costs. Yet patents are not awarded on the basis of a firm's sunk costs. Patent law, in fact, ignores costs. The disconnect between patent law and patent theory suggests either that modifying patent law so that it better fits with patent theory would reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with current patent practice or that the standard economic theory of patents is wrong.

Suggested Citation

  • Tabarrok Alexander, 2002. "Patent Theory versus Patent Law," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 1-26, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:contributions.1:y:2002:i:1:n:9
    DOI: 10.2202/1538-0645.1039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2202/1538-0645.1039
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2202/1538-0645.1039?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Strouse & Barbara Carlson & John Hall, "undated". "Report on Survey Methods for the Community Tracking Study's 1998-1999 Round Two Household Survey (Appendices)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c54f48c5be584d29893813682, Mathematica Policy Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Samuli Leppälä, 2016. "Antitrust exemptions for joint R&D improve patents," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 29-52, January.
    2. Eli Dourado & Alex Tabarrok, 2015. "Public choice perspectives on intellectual property," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 129-151, April.
    3. Adam Karbowski, 2021. "Unproductive entrepreneurship and patents," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 52(5), pages 473-494.
    4. Shawn P. Miller & Alexander Tabarrok, 2014. "Ill-Conceived, Even If Competently Administered: Software Patents, Litigation, and Innovation—A Comment on Graham and Vishnubhakat," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 11(1), pages 37-45, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fitzgerald John M, 2004. "Measuring the Impact of Welfare Benefits on Welfare Durations: State Stratified Partial Likelihood and Fixed Effect Approaches," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Ranjan Priya & Bakshi Baishali, 2006. "Corruption, Environmental Resources, and International Trade," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-30, September.
    3. Piraino Patrizio, 2007. "Comparable Estimates of Intergenerational Income Mobility in Italy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-27, October.
    4. Taber Christopher, 2002. "Tax Reform and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from an Empirical General Equilibrium Model of Skill Formation," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-38, October.
    5. Mocetti Sauro, 2007. "Intergenerational Earnings Mobility in Italy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Chang Wen-Chun, 2004. "An Empirical Analysis of Gambling Addiction: Results from the Case of Taiwan," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Shelburne Robert C., 2004. "Trade and Inequality: The Role of Vertical Specialization and Outsourcing," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-34, December.
    8. Belfrage Carl-Johan, 2003. "Selective Information Provision and Special Interest Influence: The Case of Trade Policy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-29, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:contributions.1:y:2002:i:1:n:9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.