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David Kline continues a discussion with Dave Dargo on patents over at InfoWorld
On the issue of patents acting as sources of inventive knowledge. A December 2006 survey published by the French economists Francois Leveque and Yann Meniere, for example, found that 88% of all US, European and Japanese firms rely principally upon the information disclosed in patents to keep up with technology advances in their industries and to direct their own R&D efforts. Japanese companies and inventors, in fact, reported that patents were the number one information channel for learning about and acquiring new technologies, whereas in the US, respondents said patents came a close second- after scientific publications. Kline raises a great point with licensing flows.
If intellectual property is the product of R&D and the knowledge-based economy, then trade in patents does reflect an integrated and thriving market for ideas. That study further noted that on average across all industries, time and money devoted to the creation of intellectual property directly leads to an average boost in R&D investment of 6%. Patented technology innovation accounts for over half the growth of the U.S. economy (and some studies suggest it accounts for closer to 80%...). And as one might expect in a knowledge economy, the trade in ideas through patent licensing is today growing at twice the rate of the trade in goods. Kline continues on with several good points about IPRs in international trade.Worldwide, in fact, economists have found that it is not capital resources but the strength of a country's intellectual property system that is the principal spur to technology development and economic growth. As one study from the National Bureau of Economic Research noted, in the absence of strong intellectual property rights, “the leading countries have insufficient incentive to invent and the follower countries have excessive incentive to copy” rather than invent for themselves. Interestingly, all civilized countries in the world have robust patent systems, America arguably has the strongest patent system and is one of the most innovative nations. If patent critics are that adament about their arguments, why don't they try starting a business in a non-TRIPS signatory nation? I doubt lack of robust patent laws in such nations engenders more free culture or innovativeness...
posted by Noel Le @ 9:24 PM | Patents
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