Title: Inventive behaviour and patent protection

Authors: G. Scott Erickson

Addresses: School of Management, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601, USA

Abstract: This paper considers the impact of a specific patent structure on inventive behaviour. Drawing from the legal definitions and timepoints of the US patent system, a questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of recent inventors. Their responses, including time length of the innovation process, critical activities, and the impact of variables such as organisational size, experience with patenting, and technological complexity of the underlying invention, are reported and analysed.

Keywords: patents; innovation; national innovation systems; new product development; international.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1999.002783

International Journal of Technology Management, 1999 Vol.18 No.5/6/7/8, pp.510-519

Published online: 06 Jul 2003 *

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