Economics Seminar（2013-21）

Topic: Patent "Bubble" in China?

Speaker: Cheryl Xiaoning Long (//wise.xmu.edu.cn/viewNews.asp?id=3284)

Affiliation: Xiamen University

Time: Tuesday, 15 October, 14:00-15:30pm
Location: Room217, Guanghua Building 2

Abstract：

With China surpassing the U.S. and Japan to become the number one country in the number of patent applications in 2011, the numerous patent promotion policies (PPP) adopted by various governments in China have been credited for such an achievement. What are the effects of these PPPs on the quality of patent applications and that of approved patents? We study this question empirically by exploring the regional variation in the adoption time of such PPPs. Using both provincial level and patent level panel data on patent applications, we find the following patterns: (1) The number of patent applications and that of patent approvals have both increased after the adoption of the PPP in the region; (2) the rejection rate, the withdrawal rate, and the invalidation rate of patent applications have all increased along with the adoption of the PPP in the region; and, (3) while the adoption of the PPP has increased the renewal rate of existing patents due to the increased market demand for patents driven by the PPP incentive, the renewal rate of patents applied and approved after the PPP adoption has declined. Combined together, these results suggest that the patent promotion policies adopted by the central and regional governments in China have led to a decline in both the average quality of all patent applications and the average quality of all approved patents, although these policies did succeed in increasing the total number of patents.

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