An Empirical Analysis of Patent Office Delays and Market Entry Timing
Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
The timing of product market introduction is an important decision of a firm’s commercialization strategy. In the case of patent-protected innovative products, delays at the patent office may affect the timing. Indeed, it takes the USPTO about 3–5 years—sometimes much longer—to examine and issue patents. Launching a product before obtaining a formal notice of patent allowance exposes a firm to litigation risk. However, waiting for a patent grant may impose significant financial burdens on the firm due to delayed product launches, missed market opportunities, and incurred holding costs. We understand very little about how delays at the patent office affect product commercialization strategy. This paper investigates the effect of patent office delays on product market introduction using a unique linked patent-product dataset. Results from Instrumental Variable and Cox Proportional Hazards regression models suggest a sizeable effect. We find that a patent grant increases the hazard of commercialization by 44 percent.
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About the speaker
Gaétan de Rassenfosse is Associate Professor in Science & Technology Policy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). He joined the College of Management of Technology (CDM) in 2014. Before that, he was a research fellow then a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia, from 2010 to 2014. He obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from the Solvay Business School at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, in 2010. He was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley (California, USA) in 2018 and MIT (Massachusetts, USA) in the summer of 2019.
The overarching objective of his research is to provide the policy environment that best addresses the needs of the knowledge economy. This objective is met by producing sound empirical evidence on research questions related, e.g., to intellectual property issues, the measurement of intangible capital, and the 'science of science,' to name but a few topics of interest. His work appeared in international peer-reviewed scientific journals such as Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Law & Economics, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Research Policy, and European Economic Review. He is an experienced speaker with close to 200 conferences and seminars. He received more than CHF 2.5 million in research funding from institutions including, but not limited to, the U.S. NSF, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Swiss Network for International Studies, the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the European Patent Office.
The two-way knowledge transfer that results from engagement activities is a powerful way of shaping public policies. Prof. de Rassenfosse is thus keen to talk to the media and engage with international organizations, foundations, government agencies, and private companies. He was in charge of a report on the 'Patent Box' regime as part of Australia's Prime Minister election promise to explore this policy tool. He has also done contract research for agencies and organizations such as the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) of the Swiss Confederation, the Australian Department of Industry, the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance, the Australian patent office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Venue: Room 0.18, Boschstraat 24, Maastricht (UNU-MERIT) and Online
Date: 23 November 2023
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 CET
