Characteristics of Patent Litigation: A Window on Competition
研究半导体企业专利行为，发现1980年代美国专利权强化引发了资本密集型企业的专利组合竞赛，但也促进了专业设计公司的进入。
We examine the patenting behavior of firms in an industry characterized by rapid technological change and cumulative innovation. Recent survey evidence suggests that semiconductor firms do not rely heavily on patents to appropriate returns to R&D. Yet the propensity of semiconductor firms to has risen dramatically since the mid-1980s. We explore this apparent paradox by conducting interviews with industry representatives and analyzing the patenting behavior of 95 U.S. semiconductor firms during 1979-1995. The results suggest that the 1980s strengthening of U.S. rights spawned patent portfolio races among capital-intensive firms, but it also facilitated entry by specialized design firms. Copyright 2001 by the RAND Corporation.