Search

Describes the PADOK-II project in Germany, which was designed to give information on the effects of linguistic algorithms on retrieval in a full-text database, the German Patent Information System (GPI). Relevance assessments are discussed, statistical evaluations are described, and searches are compared for the full-text section versus the abstract section. (six references) (LRW)

Describes a survey of 33 British, French, German, and U.S. abstract journals that examined their coverage of patent specifications. The standards for the identification of patent documents developed by the World Intellectual Property Organization are discussed, and an appendix provides a listing of the patent coverage by the country of each journal. (3 references) (CLB)

Bridging Technologies connect otherwise unrelated fields in regional knowledge spaces. By establishing new connections between technologies, they enable technological development through processes of recombinant innovation. In this paper, we develop a set of indicators that help us to characterise technologies in terms of their bridging function and study their evolution over time. We apply these tools to the regional and national levels in Germany. Our findings indicate that large patenting regions are not necessarily the ones that embed most new technologies in their knowledge space. For the German knowledge space we find that during the past two decades, it became less dependent on prominent technologies, such as transport, machinery and chemicals. Changes in the German knowledge space in terms of the development of new bridging technologies can be attributed to a regionally dispersed process rather than one driven by single regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the driving forces behind innovation, we analyse the dynamic bipartite network of all inventors and patents registered within the field of electrical engineering in Germany in the past two decades. To deal with the sheer size of the data, we decompose the network by exploiting the fact that most inventors tend to only stay active for a relatively short period. We thus propose a Temporal Exponential Random Graph Model with time-varying actor set and sufficient statistics mirroring substantial expectations for our analysis. Our results corroborate that inventor characteristics and team formation are essential to the dynamics of invention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be the pillar of a unified European patent enforcement system. Crucial to its success will be the harmonization of geographical variation in national jurisdictions. Germany offers a unique opportunity to explore such harmonization, as plaintiffs can choose between twelve regional courts to file a patent suit, resulting in different patent court practices within the same jurisdiction. Adopting a legal geography perspective, we examine the appellate process as a mechanism that reconciles regional variation in court practices. Based on more than 100 decisions from 34 contentious litigations that went through all instances up to the Federal Court of Justice between 2005 and 2019, we find that decision reversals, case citations and guiding principles are important tools to improve error correction and judicial consistency within an IP system. We see these instruments as crucial for national harmonization also in the upcoming European framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DABUS Germany [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tools for Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) development to assess at which territorial level innovation is concentrated and how innovation systems compare across regions and sectors remain scarce. The triple helix indicator is a data-driven tool that can serve in RIS3 development to assess synergy in innovation systems based on readily available data sets. For Germany, we find strong decentralization with innovation system synergy concentrated at regional and local levels. Innovation systems in manufacturing are less regionalized than in knowledge-intensive services. An East–West divide persists. RIS3 policy-making should account for decentralization by building capacity for region-specific RIS3 development at lower governance levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany is a highly innovative country with large regional differences, both in economic performance and innovation potential. This paper focuses on the knowledge production and technological specialization at the state level in Germany and how it affects the exports of individual states. We measured the technological specialization based on average relatedness between patent classes. We demonstrated that technological specialization increased between 1988-1992 and 1998-2002 in most German states, whereas between 2008 and 2012 it slightly declined or remained stable in all states except Saarland and Bremen. Highly innovative states, such as Bayern, as well as the least innovative Sachsen-Anhalt, belong among the most specialized states. Therefore, there is no obvious trend indicating that large specialization is related to higher innovativeness or vice versa. In accordance with other studies, we found that having a higher number of patent applications increases exports. This is especially valid at the state level. However, within the seven examined industrial categories, the relationship is weaker. Apart from patenting, we also estimated other R&D indicators such as Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD), R&D personnel and technological specialization. Whilst the higher relative numbers of R&D personnel increase the volume of exports relative to regional GDP, in the case of GERD, the results were inconclusive. Furthermore, a higher technological specialization measured by average relatedness between patent classes negatively affects exports. This finding is surprising, and other measures of specialization in different regions should be tested to support it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular theories claim that innovation activities should be located in large cities because of more favorable environmental conditions that are absent in smaller cities or peripheral areas. Germany provides a counterexample to such theories. We argue that a major reason behind the geography of innovation in Germany is the country's pronounced legacy of political fragmentation that created a decentralized settlement structure, shaped the geographic distribution of universities and public research institutions, and brought about a rather uniform and local access to finance. We show how political fragmentation influenced the emergence of historic centers of knowledge production and impacts the positioning of innovation activities today. We conclude that institutional factors should play a more prominent role in theories that aim at explaining the spatial distribution of innovation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany is one of few jurisdictions with a bifurcated patent system, under which infringement and validity of a patent are established in separate proceedings. Because validity proceedings normally take longer to conclude, it can occur that remedies for infringement are imposed before a decision on the patent's validity is available. This phenomenon is colloquially known as the 'injunction gap' and has been the subject of increasing criticism over the past years. In this article, I examine the injunction gap from the perspective of the right to a fair trial enshrined in Art. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. I find that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights interpreting this provision supports criticism of the injunction gap, because imposing infringement remedies with potentially far-reaching consequences before the validity of a patent has been established by a court of law arguably violates defendants' right to be heard. Such reliance on the patent office's grant decision is no longer warranted in the light of contemporary invalidation rates. I conclude that the proliferation of the injunction gap should be curbed by an approach to a stay of proceedings which is in line with the test for stays as formulated by Germany's Federal Supreme Court. Under this test, courts should stay infringement proceedings until the Federal Patent Court or the EPO's Board of Appeal have ruled on the validity of a patent whenever it is more likely than not that it will be invalidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most hospital payment systems based on diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) provide payments for newly approved technologies. In Germany, they are negotiated between individual hospitals and health insurances. The aim of our study is to assess the functioning of temporary reimbursement mechanisms. We used multilevel logistic regression to examine factors at the hospital and state levels that are associated with agreeing innovation payments. Dependent variable was whether or not a hospital had successfully negotiated innovation payments in 2013 (n = 1532). Using agreement data of the yearly budget negotiations between each German hospital and representatives of the health insurances, the study comprises all German acute hospitals and innovation payments on all diagnoses. In total, 32.9% of the hospitals successfully negotiated innovation payments in 2013. We found that the chance of receiving innovation payments increased if the hospital was located in areas with a high degree of competition and if they were large, had university status and were private for-profit entities. Our study shows an implicit self-controlled selection of hospitals receiving innovation payments. While implicitly encouraging safety of patient care, policy makers should favour a more direct and transparent process of distributing innovation payments in prospective payment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A substantial number of patents tested in court for validity are invalidated. If a similar portion of all patents was deemed invalid in hypothetical validity tests, then this would indicate a seriously flawed patent system due to restrictions unduly imposed by these erroneously granted patents on users and follow-on innovators. Thus, we ask, if a randomly picked patent underwent revocation proceedings, what are the odds of its invalidation? We address this question by analyzing the various selection effects through which patents become subject to validity decisions. Empirically, we focus on Germany, where revocation proceedings are separate from infringement suits and where, in court decisions during the period of 2010–2012, 45% of patents were determined to be fully invalid and 33% to be partially invalid. Based on data gleaned through expert interviews, a survey among lawyers, and an econometric analysis of court judgments, we find the likelihood of (hypothetical) invalidation of a randomly picked patent to be in the same range as that for actually adjudicated patents. As the main cause of patent invalidity we identify incomplete searches for prior art during examination. Our arguments carry over to other legislations. To remedy this situation, we suggest a significant increase of the inventive step required for patent grant combined with a smaller increase of the inventive-step standard in litigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge produced by academic scientists has been identified as a potential key driver of technological progress. Recent policies in Europe aim at increasing commercially orientated activities in academe. Based on a sample of German scientists across all fields of science, we investigate the importance of academic patenting. Our findings suggest that academic involvement in patenting results in a citation premium, as academic patents appear to generate more forward citations. We also find that in the European context of changing research objectives and funding sources since the mid-1990s, the “importance” of academic patents declines over time. We show that academic entrants have patents of lower “quality” than academic incumbents but they did not cause the decline, since the relative importance of patents involving academics with an existing patenting history declined over time as well. Moreover, a preliminary evaluation of the effects of the abolishment of the “professor privilege” (the German counterpart of the US Bayh-Dole Act) reveals that this legal disposition led to an acceleration of this apparent decline. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a patent search strategy for photovoltaics which allows distinguishing patents of the photovoltaic system into sub-trajectories. Identifying and analyzing sub-trajectories is of particular importance for understanding micro patterns of technological change. The proposed search strategy is modular and replicable. It performs similar to benchmark search strategies and allows us to distinguish three cell sub-trajectories and two system components. The identified sub-trajectories allow a more detailed economic analysis previously not possible. Descriptive analyses reveal that inventive activity differs between sub-trajectories and countries. The market dominating silicon wafer cell sub-trajectory shows hardly any patented inventive activity even though it dominates the market. Furthermore, there are shifts in relative patenting activity between sub-trajectories, previously unnoticed at the trajectory level. Country comparison reveals that Asian countries focus on the emerging cell sub-trajectory, fostering their competitive advantage. The USA focuses on the established thin-film sub-trajectory, and inventive activity in Germany focuses on module components. The results have several implications for policy, for example, questioning the effectiveness of demand pull policies for inventive activity, and economic theory. The empirical assessment of sub-trajectories can increase understanding of technological change and uncover dynamics not observable at the trajectory level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the spread of innovation in mid‐nineteenth‐century Germany using foreign patents as an indicator for technology transfer. It introduces a new dataset of over 1,400 patents granted in the Grand Duchy of Baden between 1843 and 1877. The data show that Baden's technology import via foreign patents from German and non‐German inventors was important. This technology transfer was broadly based, although technologies related to the textile and machine‐building industries are prominent in the data. The decision to file a patent in Baden was driven by competition and the risk of imitation. Using a gravity model with city‐level data, we find evidence that technology transfer through patents reflected existing trade links. The strong correlation between technologies filed by foreigners and domestic inventors provides further evidence that the risk of imitation fostered patent‐based technology transfer during the mid‐nineteenth century. Furthermore, we show that foreigners filed patents predominantly in industries that accounted for a high share of the workforce in Baden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patents are a means of protecting inventions developed by firms, institutions or individuals, and they may be interpreted as indicators of invention. Patents indicators convey information on the processes of inventive activities. Therefore, patent statistics will assess science and technology (S&T) activities. Besides, additive manufacturing (AM) has become a revolutionary technology that is changing medical science. For this reason, the patent statistics will allow us to monitor what is the state of the inventive activity of AM in medical applications. The database used in order to retrieve patent information is Patseer and the data have been analyzed through the analytics package called Quick Stats. From the data obtained, it can be concluded that, additive manufacturing in medical applications is an emerging technology with huge market potential. Undoubtedly, the core of invention is located in United States, followed by Germany, United Kingdom and China somewhat behind. Firms are the main holders of legal rights, and the firm's market value and the knowledge diffusion of technology are ensured by the technological diversity and the number of forward citations presented by patents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ways in which societies and institutions institutionalize and practice invention management reflects not only how new ideas are valued, but also imaginaries about the role of science and technology for societal development. Often taking the US Bayh-Dole-Act as a model, many European states have recently implemented changes in how inventions at academic institutions are to be handled to optimize their societal impact. We analyze how these changes have been taken up—and made sense of—in regions with different pre-existing infrastructures, practices and semantics of invention management. For doing so, we build on a comparative analysis of continuities and changes in infrastructures, practices and semantics of invention management in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW, a former Western state) and Saxony (a former GDR state) to reflect on how academic institutions have been handling inventions along transforming socio-political contexts. Building on document analysis and qualitative interviews with research managers, we discuss ongoing differences in practices of invention management and the semantic framing of the societal value of inventions in NRW and Saxony, and discuss how this can be understood before the background of their ideological, political and economic separation until reunification in 1990. Joining the conceptual perspectives of path dependencies and sociotechnical imaginaries, we argue that two critical incidents in the history of these states (the reunification in 1990 and a legal change in 2002) allowed for wide-ranging institutional alignments, but also allowed path dependencies in practices and semantics of invention management to prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the effects of public R&D subsidies on R&D input and output of German firms. We distinguish between the direct impact of subsidies on R&D investment and the indirect effect on innovation output measured by patent applications. We disentangle the productivity of purely privately financed R&D and additional R&D investment induced by the public incentive scheme. For this, a treatment-effect analysis is conducted in a first step. The results are implemented into the estimation of a patent production function in a second step. It turns out that both purely privately financed R&D and publicly induced R&D show a positive effect on patent outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides insights into the behavior of academic patentees who choose to bypass in-house Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). TTOs have gained favor in recent years as academic institutions have tried to increase commercialization of their inventions. Using a large sample of researchers at a leading German public research organisation (PRO), results show that patentees in physical and life sciences, those with doctoral degrees, and those with greater job experience are more likely to bypass TTOs. Different forms of industry interactions, including working in industry, industry cooperation and industry consulting, all make TTO-bypassing more likely, with some interesting differences across gender. Further, as expected, academics favoring free public access to their research are less likely to bypass TTOs. On the other hand, internal leadership position as a research group leader, German citizenship and risk attitudes do no exert significant influences. Implications for technology transfer policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Start-ups may benefit in two ways from patenting their inventions: from the appropriation value and the certification effect of patents which reveals the ventures’ ‘quality’ to investors. As long as the patent office’s grant decision is pending both benefits may not realise. We confirm for a data-set of German start-ups that pending patent applications decrease the likelihood of market launch for new ventures. Regarding the certification effect, we find that pending patent applications attract risk-seeking investors, while more cautious investors do not react upon pending patent applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many technological and methodical advances have made stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) more accurate and more efficient during the last years. This study aims to investigate whether experience in SBRT and technological innovations also translated into improved local control (LC) and overall survival (OS).Methods and Materials: A database of 700 patients treated with SBRT for lung metastases in 20 German centers between 1997 and 2014 was used for analysis. It was the aim of this study to investigate the impact of fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) staging, biopsy confirmation, image guidance, immobilization, and dose calculation algorithm, as well as the influence of SBRT experience, on LC and OS.Results: Median follow-up time was 14.3 months (range, 0-131.9 months), with 2-year LC and OS of 81.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 75.8%-85.7%) and 54.4% (95% CI 50.2%-59.0%), respectively. In multivariate analysis, all treatment technologies except FDG-PET staging did not significantly influence outcome. Patients who received pre-SBRT FDG-PET staging showed superior 1- and 2-year OS of 82.7% (95% CI 77.4%-88.6%) and 64.8% (95% CI 57.5%-73.3%), compared with patients without FDG-PET staging resulting in 1- and 2-year OS rates of 72.8% (95% CI 67.4%-78.8%) and 52.6% (95% CI 46.0%-60.4%), respectively (P=.012). Experience with SBRT was identified as the main prognostic factor for LC: institutions with higher SBRT experience (patients treated with SBRT within the last 2 years of the inclusion period) showed superior LC compared with less-experienced centers (P≤.001). Experience with SBRT within the last 2 years was independent from known prognostic factors for LC.Conclusion: Investigated technological and methodical advancements other than FDG-PET staging before SBRT did not significantly improve outcome in SBRT for pulmonary metastases. In contrast, LC was superior with increasing SBRT experience of the individual center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between regional labour market characteristics and innovation outcomes in the Federal Republic of Germany. In particular, we use regressions to determine how the composition of the regional population -- in terms of their human capital endowments, their cultural diversity and their milieu affiliation -- influences patent activities. We also test different spatial units in our models to establish which regional level is more appropriate for our analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bifurcated patent litigation systems, claims of infringement and validity of a patent are decided independently of each other in separate court proceedings at different courts. In non-bifurcated systems, infringement and validity are decided jointly in the same proceedings at a single court. We build a model that shows the key trade-off between bifurcated and non-bifurcated systems and how it affects the incentives of plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement cases. Using detailed data on patent litigation cases in Germany (bifurcated) and the U.K. (non-bifurcated), we show that bifurcation creates situations in which a patent is held infringed that is subsequently invalidated. We also show that having to challenge a patent's validity in separate court proceedings under bifurcation implies that alleged infringers are less likely to do so. We find this to apply in particular to more resource-constrained alleged infringers. Finally, we find parties to be more likely to settle in a bifurcated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial innovation models focus on the region and highlight the social and economic interactions of the actors as a main factor in regional innovative output. This paper examines the role of German chambers of commerce and industry (CCIs), which could be relevant for the innovation process through: (1) moderating or founding regional and local (innovative) initiatives; (2) creating and maintaining formal and informal networks; (3) building reputations and providing references; (4) providing information and advisory services; (5) conducting final examinations in vocational training; and (6) founding educational institutions. The empirical analyses show a positive impact of CCI expenditures on the number of start-ups and the number of patents, as well as a positive impact of seminar and information day participation on the number of start-ups. The results lead to the assumption that the network effect (functions 2 and 3) plays a more important role than providing pure information and advice (function 4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the lessons that can be learned by examining the difference between the terms "making" and "repair" in relation to the scope of exclusive patent rights and a comparison of the patent laws in Great Britain and Germany as of 2015. Patent infringement claims are addressed, along with a distinction between an upstream technology market and a separate downstream after-market. German and British judge-made law are assessed, along with several litigation matters.

The paper investigates the intertemporal spillover effects from patenting to future publishing activities and vice versa among university employees with a country focus on the German Laender Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia. Individual data from university patentees who successfully issued a patent at a public university before and after 2005 from the selected German Laender is used for measuring the Granger-causal effects between both activities. The interaction of personal and institutional characteristics of academic patentees is taken into account. By using Granger-causality tests in a dynamic panel model, we test the overall effect as well as group or Laender specific effects. Our findings show that there is a positive feedback relationship between patenting and publishing activities. An increase in patent applications results in higher numbers of future publications; reciprocally, an increase of publications contributes to a higher output of future patent applications. Additionally, we find interrelations of the research output with seniority, academic degree of the scientists and non-university work experience. The paper further presents findings about motives, skills and experience of so-called star scientists and other academic inventors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]