Frakes, Michael D.; Wasserman, Melissa F. --- "Empirical scholarship on the prosecution process at the USPTO" [2019] ELECD 1962; in Depoorter, Ben; Menell, Peter; Schwartz, David (eds), "Research Handbook on the Economics of Intellectual Property Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 77

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Economics of Intellectual Property Law

Editor(s): Depoorter, Ben; Menell, Peter; Schwartz, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Empirical scholarship on the prosecution process at the USPTO

Author(s): Frakes, Michael D.; Wasserman, Melissa F.

Number of pages: 15

Abstract/Description:

While there is a substantial literature in law and economics bearing on the patent system, the administrative process by which patent rights are initially established has received scant attention. In the past decade, a growing but nascent literature has emerged that has begun to shed empirical light on the patent examination process. This chapter will provide a brief overview of this literature, focusing only on studies that carry significant empirical components and only on studies of the U.S. patent system. The need for sound empirical guidance on the administrative process of obtaining a patent is substantial. Without sufficient empirical evidence as to which features of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shape the Agency’s decision making, policymakers are left trying to reform the patent system without understanding the root cause of the system’s pathologies