Valerio Sterzi

Valerio Sterzi est Maître de conférences en Sciences Economiques au GREThA (CNRS), à l'Université de Bordeaux.
 

Ses principaux intérêts de recherche portent sur l'économie de l'innovation et l'économie des brevets.
Il travaille actuellement sur le rôle des intermédiaires en brevets et des entités non praticiennes sur le marché des brevets et sur les implications du manque de transparence du marché des brevets grâce au projet NPEIE soutenu par l'Agence nationale de la recherche française.

Nous avons le plaisir de l'accueillir au GAEL le 20 février 2020 pour un séminaire pour la présentation du papier NPEs, Market for Patents and Follow-on Innovation. Evidence from Patent Transfers at the USPTO.

Abstract:
We provide original evidence on the role of Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) for follow-on innovation by looking at the transfers of USPTO patents involving these entities over the period 1990-2016. Our evidence is threefold. First, NPEs build selected patent portfolios and contribute relevantly and increasingly to patent transfers in the United States. Second, their impact on follow-on innovation around the acquired assets is, on average, negative. We estimate a post-transfer reduction in forward citations received by patents transferred to NPEs of ~3%. Third, heterogeneous NPE business models co-exist, with different implications for innovation. NPEs that build valuable patent portfolios do not harm (or are even beneficial to) follow-on innovation around the acquired patents. Similar evidence applies to NPEs that sell large portions of their patent portfolios to producing companies. By contrast, the negative effect is driven by specific NPEs, i.e. those that operate opportunistically and build weak patent portfolios. Lastly, we contribute the debate on the functioning of the market for technology. On average, transfers between producing companies are associated with an increased use of the patent. However, this is not the case in high-tech domains. This suggests that the transfer of high-tech patents is largely motivated by strategic reasons.