The effects of strengthening patent rights on firms engaged in cumulative innovation: Insights from the semiconductor industry

Rosemarie Ham Ziedonis; Bronwyn H. Hall

doi:10.1016/S1048-4736(01)13007-9

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Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Economic Growth

ISSN: 1048-4736
Series editor(s): Sherry Hoskinson and Donald Kuratko

Subject Area: Enterprise and Innovation

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The effects of strengthening patent rights on firms engaged in cumulative innovation: Insights from the semiconductor industry

Document Information:
Title:	The effects of strengthening patent rights on firms engaged in cumulative innovation: Insights from the semiconductor industry
Author(s):	Rosemarie Ham Ziedonis, Bronwyn H. Hall
Volume:	13 Editor(s): Gary D. Libecap ISBN: 978-0-76230-822-4 eISBN: 978-1-84950-123-1
Citation:	Rosemarie Ham Ziedonis, Bronwyn H. Hall (2001), The effects of strengthening patent rights on firms engaged in cumulative innovation: Insights from the semiconductor industry, in Gary D. Libecap (ed.) Entrepreneurial inputs and outcomes: New studies of entrepreneurship in the United States (Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Economic Growth, Volume 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.133-187
DOI:	10.1016/S1048-4736(01)13007-9 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Full length article
Abstract:	During the 1980s, changes in the U.S. legal environment ushered in an era characterized by strong patent rights. This paper examines the effects of this “pro-patent” shift on firms in the semiconductor industry. By conducting interviews with industry representatives and analyzing the patenting behavior of 95 U.S. semiconductor firms during 1979–1995, we find that the strengthening of U.S. patent rights spawned “patent portfolio races” among capital-intensive firms, but also may have facilitated entry by specialized design firms during this period. The results highlight the multifaceted effects of strengthening patent rights on firms within one important cumulative technological setting.