Optimal Patent Length and Breadth
Volume: Volume 21, No. 1
Issue: Spring 1990
Pages: pp. 106-112
Authors: Richard Gilbert and Carl Shapiro
Title: Optimal Patent Length and Breadth
Abstract: In providing rewards to innovators, there is a tradeoff between patent length and breadth. This article provides conditions under which the optimal patent policy involves infinitely-lived patents, with patent breadth adjusting to provide the required reward for innovation.
JEL Classification
Public Policy Towards Monopoly and Competition (6120)
Research and Development (6212)