Effects of early patent publication on knowledge dissemination: Evidence from U.S. patent law reform

• Published in: Information economics and policy 2020-06, Vol.51, p.100852, Article 100852
• Main Authors: Okada, Yoshimi, Nagaoka, Sadao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applicant citation; Bias; Citations; Computer mediated communication; Computers; Disclosure; Dissemination; Examiner citation; Inventors; Knowledge flow; Legal reform; Patent law; Pre-grant publication; Reforms
• ISSN: 0167-6245; 1873-5975
• DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2020.100852

•Effects of the American Inventor's Protection Act were investigated.•Pre-grant publication of U.S. patent applications accelerated knowledge diffusion.•Examiner citations found to cause a systematic bias toward early knowledge flows.•Strongest effect in Computers & Communications, followed by in Drugs and Medicals.•Publications of eventually abandoned applications found to be new knowledge source. In order to assess effects of early publication of patent applications on the dissemination of the disclosed technological knowledge, this study examines the impacts of the 18-month pre-grant publication system introduced in the United States in 2000. It focuses on the variations of the applicant non-self-citations driven by the actual policy reform, unlike prior studies, after demonstrating that including examiner citations causes a systematic bias toward early knowledge flows to subsequent inventors. It finds that the citation probability rose significantly in early stage following the early publication, which shows that the reform accelerated knowledge diffusion significantly. Furthermore, the effect was stronger in the fields with longer publication lag before the reform (strongest in Computers & Communications, followed by in Drugs and Medicals). The reform looks to have helped inventors to recognize potential duplication and follow-on invention opportunities earlier. In addition, the publications of eventually abandoned patent applications, which had not been published before the reform, are found to have become significant new knowledge sources.