Need for speed? : Exploring the relative importance of patents and utility models among German firms
Abstract
Despite the wide use of two-tiered patent systems (patents and utility models (UMs)), there is little empirical evidence about how often UMs are actually used, what kind of firms use them to protect their intellectual property, and how firms rank them relative to patents. We offer such an analysis using data from Germany. We find that larger firms are more likely to use both protection methods. Moreover, a short life cycle of products and services is associated with an increased likelihood to use UMs. The features and functioning of the German UM system are of broader interest because it has been a benchmark for several second tier patent protection systems around the world.
Main Authors
Format
Articles
Research article
Published
2018
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201710123983Käytä tätä linkitykseen.
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1043-8599
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2017.1310794
Language
English
Published in
Economics of Innovation and New Technology
Citation
- Heikkilä, J., & Lorenz, A. (2018). Need for speed? : Exploring the relative importance of patents and utility models among German firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 27(1), 80-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2017.1310794
License
Copyright© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is a final draft version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published by Taylor & Francis. Published in this repository with the kind permission of the publisher.