2001/01/01 by Bronwyn H. Hall, Rosemarie Ham Ziedonis · 3 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Economic Growth and Productivity #Innovation Policy and R&D #Intellectual Property and Patents
paper · doi:10.2307/2696400
openalex publication_date 2001/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We examine the patenting behavior of firms in an industry characterized by rapid technological change and cumulative innovation. Recent survey evidence suggests that semiconductor firms do not rely heavily on patents to appropriate returns to R&D. Yet the propensity of semiconductor firms to patent has risen dramatically since the mid1980s. We explore this apparent paradox by conducting interviews with industry representatives and analyzing the patenting behavior of 95 U.S. semiconductor firms during 1979‐1995. The results suggest that the 1980s strengthening of U.S. patent rights spawned ‘‘patent portfolio races’’ among capital-intensive firms, but it also facilitated entry by specialized design firms.