专利丛林:科技创新中的绿荫还是荆棘?

Patent Thicket:Impetus or Barrier in Technological Innovation?

专利丛林现象作为一项重要的技术发展特征,深刻影响着专利保护与创新之间的关系。本文以“三角阻碍”专利(三家公司中每家都拥有能阻碍其他两家实施自身技术的专利)量化中国各技术领域专利丛林密度,并基于专利申请、授权、引用、许可及转让数据,运用移动份额工具变量的因果关系识别策略,实证检验专利保护带来的垄断损失成本对企业创新和行业发展的影响。研究发现:(1)专利丛林的存在提高了企业“短、平、快”实用新型专利数量,并减少了创新含量最高的发明专利的授权率和占比;(2)专利丛林现象对企业创新质量产生显著负面影响,专利被引用次数下降;(3)专利丛林的存在显著提高了企业专利交易数量,但削弱了技术交易中的专利“质量溢价”;(4)上述影响更多表现在面临重要“三角阻碍”专利、处于引用链条下游、所属行业技术含量高、所在地区知识产权保护水平高的企业中;(5)专利丛林现象引致的创新策略,对企业未来市场价值和行业竞争产生了显著的负向影响。本文的研究表明,在提高知识产权保护水平的同时,需要密切关注不同技术领域的发展特征,防范潜在的垄断后果。

Innovation is a core element in the development of new quality productivity.As a key institutional arrangement,the patent system encourages and protects innovation by granting patentees monopoly rights over specific technical solutions for a limited time period.In the context of China,most studies have reached the consensus that stronger patent protection significantly boosts innovation.However,it is important to note that patent protection may also bring about various drawbacks of monopoly,including lower consumer welfare and discourage subsequent innovation.Theoretical studies suggest that patent protection either facilitates or hinders subsequent innovation,depending on industrial structure and technological characteristics.Empirical studies indicate that patent protection can impede subsequent innovation in the form of patent thickets,particularly in highly cumulative and patent-fragmented industries such as information and communications technology(ICT).This highlights the profound impact of patent thickets on the relationship between patent protection and innovation.In the context of the continuous transformation and upgrading of China's economy and the rapid increase of intellectual property protection,is technological innovation being affected by the patent thicket?Accordingly,should patent protection levels vary based on industrial characteristics and innovation contexts?And how should we mitigate the monopolistic barriers arising from enhanced patent protection?There are still many problems worthy of attention.To this end,this paper focuses on the case of patent thickets to explore the monopoly costs associated with patent protection and their effects on subsequent innovation and industry development.First,based on Chinese patent data,this study draws on the framework established by Graevenitz et al.(2011)to quantify the density of patent thicket across various technological domains in China from 1985 to 2014.The analysis reveals several typical stylized facts:First,from the time dimension,patent thickets in China have witnessed a significant surge around the year 2000.Second,from the perspective of technical field level,the phenomenon of patent thickets has emerged prominently in fields involving complex technologies.Third,from the perspective of enterprise level,the formation process of patent thickets is dominated by a small number of enterprises,while most companies have encountered patent thickets as external uncertainties.Moreover,this study employs a causal identification strategy based on shift-share instrumental variables to empirically study the effects of monopoly loss costs stemming from patent protection on subsequent innovation and industry development.And our findings include the following:First,the density of patent thickets significantly amplifies the proliferation of utility patents while diminishing the number of invention patents with higher levels of innovative content;Second,patent thickets significantly decrease the quality of innovation;Third,patent thickets lead to a significant increase in the volume of patent transactions,but it will weaken the"quality premium"of patents that are licensed and transferred;Fourth,these effects are particularly pronounced among firms confronted with more important triples,positioned downstream in citation chains,belonging to high technology industries,and located in regions with higher level of intellectual property protection;Fifth,the strategic patent behavior induced by patent thickets has a significant negative impact on both firms'future market value and industry competition.This study makes possible contributions to the following aspects:First of all,most existing research on monopoly problem caused by patent protection focuses on developed countries.The studies on China is mainly based on theoretical discussion,lacking empirical analysis supported by data.This paper flls that gap by providing macro-evidence from China,examining the monopoly costs of patent protection and its impact on subsequent innovation and economic development,thereby providing empirical evidence from developing countries for existing theoretical research and broadening the understanding of the relationship between patent protection and innovation in economic theories.Besides,by measuring patent thickets across various technological fields in China,summarizing developing law of patent thicket,and empirically exploring the effects of patent thickets on innovation and competition,this paper provides empirical support from China for the global understanding of patent thickets and refines the theoretical framework by providing a dual perspective of both innovation and competition.Our study also has several important policy implications.First,raising the criteria for granting utility patents is essential to minimize monopolistic gains from strategic innovations.Meanwhile,the patent examination process should be strictly enforced,with higher standards to prevent the abuse of patents that lack sufficient novelty and creativity.Second,build technology trading platforms,patent pools,and promote patent open licenses to reduce the increased transaction costs due to patent hijacking and license fee superposition caused by patent thickets dilemma,thus encouraging enterprises to prioritize genuine R&D.Third,adjusting intellectual property protection levels based on industry development and technological characteristics to balance between fostering innovation incentives and mitigating monopoly costs,promoting industry growth and scientific and technological innovation.