| Author/Presenter |
Mohammed Rafiquzzaman (Industry Canada) |
| Title |
Intellectual Property Protection and Innovation |
| Abstract |
This paper examines the relationship between intellectual property rights (measured in terms of patent rights) and business sector innovation activity (measured in terms of business sector R&D intensity) using panel data for 20 OECD countries over the period 1980-2000. Specifically, it examines whether "too strong" a level of protection causes a decline in the rate of innovation and what are the policy implications of the findings. The results show that the relationship between intellectual property rights and innovation is an inverted U, suggesting that, after a critical level, `too strong' a level of protection causes a decline in the rate of innovation. They further show that a large number of OECD countries have either reached or exceeded the critical level of patent strength. They are - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S. The results suggest that further strengthening of intellectual property rights might not increase, if not retard, innovation in these countries. |
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