A WORD ON OPTIMAL PATENT LIFE,
Abstract
A variable patent policy is not a panacea for lagging industrial research. It is unlikely that the implementation of such a program will increase the amount of basic research done by industry. Such a policy only stimulates that research which firms believe will produce a product which is marketable and patentable; it does so by promising to the firm capable of doing the R and D the full recovery of all R and D costs plus some incentive profit. In accomplishing this, it minimizes the undesirable effects which accompany the monopolistic position provided by a patent. In short, it reduces the social costs of stimulating research while it reaps many of the social benefits from research that might be foregone under a fixed patent life policy. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0633336
Entities
People
- Fred D. Arditti
Organizations
- RAND Corporation