Are Patent Fees Effective at Weeding Out Low-Quality Patents?

The paper investigates whether patent fees are an effective mechanism to deter the filing of low-quality patent applications. The study analyzes the effect on patent quality of the Patent Law Amendment Act of 1982, which resulted in a substantial increase in patenting fees at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Results from a series of difference-in-differences regressions suggest that the increase in fees led to a weeding out of low-quality patents. About 14 per cent of patents in the lowest quality decile were filtered out, and the effect was especially visible for companies with a large patent portfolio. The study has strong policy implications in the current context of concerns about declines in patent quality.

Keywords: Patents, Patent fees, Patent quality, Innovation, Invention

JEL Classification: K2, O31, O34, O38

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

de Rassenfosse, Gaétan and Jaffe, Adam B., Are Patent Fees Effective at Weeding Out Low-Quality Patents? (July 7, 2016). Motu Working Paper No. 15-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2545714 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2545714