Patent Value and Citations: Creative Destruction or Strategic Disruption?
78 Pages Posted: 8 Nov 2013 Last revised: 31 Oct 2019
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Patent Value and Citations: Creative Destruction or Strategic Disruption?
Patent Value and Citations: Creative Destruction or Strategic Disruption?
Date Written: October 29, 2019
Abstract
Patent citations often proxy for the value of innovation, and the very need for a proxy demonstrates the difficulty of getting direct measures. We value patents using novel data from non-practicing entities (NPEs) licensing revenues, the largest sample with direct measures analyzed to date. We find an inverted-U relationship between value and citations, with fewer citations at the high end of value than in the middle. We develop a model that offers a potential explanation: a mixture of productive patents produced by entrepreneurs to extend knowledge and strategic patents produced by incumbents to protect market share and discourage follow-on innovations.
Keywords: innovation, patents, creative destruction, citations, patent value, industrial competition, intellectual property, entrepreneurship, strategic patenting
JEL Classification: O3, L2, K1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation