Duration of Patent Protection: Does One Size Fit All?

Christie, Andrew F.; Rotstein, Fiona

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1012214

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Duration of Patent Protection: Does One Size Fit All?

U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 245

Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia Working Paper No. 04.07

23 Pages Posted: 11 Sep 2007

See all articles by Andrew F. Christie

The patent system has a 'one size' approach to duration of protection, in that all inventions are entitled to the same maximum period of grant: 20 years. This paper seeks to answer the question whether this 'one size' approach 'fits all' inventions. It does so by determining if the duration of protection is within the reasonable bounds of what might be considered optimal, when account is taken of the economic theory on duration, patentees' practices regarding renewal of their patents and the legal features of the current system. It finds that the system on duration of patent protection currently in operation matches closely to what would be considered optimal.

Keywords: patent, protection, duration

JEL Classification: K11

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Christie, Andrew F. and Rotstein, Fiona, Duration of Patent Protection: Does One Size Fit All?. U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 245, Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia Working Paper No. 04.07, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1012214 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1012214