The Spanish Patent System. Origins, Characteristics and Evolution

Abstract

The aim of this study is to use patents as a partial technology indicator, and, above all, as an investment indicator in new technologies in order to analyze the formation, evolution and characterization of the Spanish technological system during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Ceteris paribus, the decision to patent is based on the intuitive expectation of profits from the new technology – which is influenced both by economic growth itself and by marketing possibilities, as well as by institutional issues such as the possibility of enforcing the patent monopoly – and the cost of obtaining the monopoly – in monetary and institutional terms (the existence of previous exams or compulsory working clauses, etc.). In general, as occurs in other types of capital investments, success is determined by multiple circumstances, which does not invalidate the possibility of studying the intensity and direction of investment activity. In this paper we a) characterize and analyze the Spanish institutional environment related to patents; b) explain the evolution of patent applications throughout the 19th century; c) analyze patents by nationality and residence; d) study the presence of firms and analyze independents' socio-professional activities; e) research sectoral patent distribution; and finally, f) study patent compulsory working clauses and patent duration.

Keywords: Patents, Intellectual Property Rights, Spanish Innovation System

JEL Classification: N43, O31, O34