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Intellectual Property, Standards

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Innovation Policy

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Entrepreneurship and Innovation ((BRIEFSENTRE))

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Abstract

This chapter examines intellectual property and standards, two important elements of the innovation landscape. First to be highlighted will be intellectual property (IP), a set of rules and institutions designed to foster innovation and ideas. We will discuss different forms of intellectual property protection such as patents, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets. The chapter will then discuss standards and their role in domestic innovation and in international trade. Standards have the potential to boost innovation, but also have the potential to stifle domestic industrial creativity.

Adapted from a chapter of the Innovation Policy Handbook report composed for the World Bank (2012). Original unpublished and available upon request.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The legal details here are based on the U.S. model, but similar criteria apply in other nations.

  2. 2.

    The importance of copyrights has increased tremendously in the era of the knowledge economy. In fact, various experts argue that the extensive attention on patents in the detriment of other forms of IP protection may be increasingly misguided (Wunch-Vincent 2013).

  3. 3.

    It is this feature of knowledge that underlies the explanations of economic advance of new growth theory discussed in Chap. 2 of this volume.

  4. 4.

    For more details on knowledge as an economic input see Romer (1996), OECD (1996), Grandstrand (1999).

  5. 5.

    Albeit at a cost. Research has shown that the costs of imitation vary across industries and across activities and can be significant. See Mansfield (1985), Mansfield et al. (1981), Levin et al. (1987).

  6. 6.

    For an excellent historical exposition of how IPRs came to be and what they mean see David (1992).

  7. 7.

    Other more esoteric issues are also relevant here and have been widely discussed by economists regarding the warranted strength of the patent system including the breadth of protection (how broad a patent is) and the number of claims on a single patent. We refrain from these topics herein.

  8. 8.

    Usability and appropriability are also time specific; as a country develops, its technology capacity changes. See the text box on South Korea’s technology development.

  9. 9.

    Good examples of survey use regarding innovation are the OECD Country Innovation Policy Surveys. For further information see also WIPO (2013) and references therein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for International Science and Technology Policy, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA

    Ph.D. Jeffrey Williams

  2. SRI International & Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA

    Anwar Aridi

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  1. Ph.D. Jeffrey Williams
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  2. Anwar Aridi
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Correspondence to Jeffrey Williams .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Nicholas S. Vonortas

  2. The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Phoebe C. Rouge

  3. SRI International & The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Anwar Aridi

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Williams, J., Aridi, A. (2015). Intellectual Property, Standards. In: Vonortas, N., Rouge, P., Aridi, A. (eds) Innovation Policy. SpringerBriefs in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2233-8_7

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