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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 346.730486 EAN: 9780691134918 ISBN: 069113491X Label: Princeton University Press Manufacturer: Princeton University Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 352 Publication Date: March 23, 2008 Publisher: Princeton University Press Studio: Princeton University Press Editorial Review: Product Description: In the last several years, business leaders, policymakers, and inventors have complained to the media and to Congress that today's patent system stifles innovation instead of fostering it. But like the infamous patent on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, much of the cited evidence about the patent system is pure anecdote--making realistic policy formation difficult. Is the patent system fundamentally broken, or can it be fixed with a few modest reforms? Moving beyond rhetoric, Patent Failure provides the first authoritative and comprehensive look at the economic performance of patents in forty years. James Bessen and Michael Meurer ask whether patents work well as property rights, and, if not, what institutional and legal reforms are necessary to make the patent system more effective. Patent Failure presents a wide range of empirical evidence from history, law, and economics. The book's findings are stark and conclusive. While patents do provide incentives to invest in research, development, and commercialization, for most businesses today, patents fail to provide predictable property rights. Instead, they produce costly disputes and excessive litigation that outweigh positive incentives. Only in some sectors, such as the pharmaceutical industry, do patents act as advertised, with their benefits outweighing the related costs. By showing how the patent system has fallen short in providing predictable legal boundaries, Patent Failure serves as a call for change in institutions and laws. There are no simple solutions, but Bessen and Meurer's reform proposals need to be heard. The health and competitiveness of the nation's economy depend on it. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - The potential is there, but details matter...Well the valuation studies were interesting, but only up to a point. A patent holder isn't that interested in what patents are worth in the aggregate, the only thing that matters is how much an individual patent is worth. It's like talking about worldwide corn prices, when all I care about is how much my gallon of milk is worth. One thing that annoyed me to no end is the harping on the E-Data case. Yes, we get it, the authors don't like software patents, but they should have come ... Read More Rating:  - A calm look at the evidence for patent reformAnyone inclined to read this book should just ignore its subtitle -- "How Judges, Bureaucrats, and Lawyers Put Innovators At Risk." I can only imagine that was thrown in to make this book appeal to right-wingers. Which is really strange, come to think of it: the book is sedate, scholarly, reasoned, and exhaustive, and if anything it will appeal to readers who enjoy Larry Lessig and Richard Posner. In no way do Bessen and Meurer suggest that the system be scrapped and those "Judges, Bureaucrats and ... Read More |
