Description
Book SynopsisThe United States patent system has become sand rather than lubricant in the wheels of American progress. This work tells the story of how changes in patenting - an institutional process that was created to nurture innovation - have wreaked havoc on innovators, businesses, and economic productivity.
Trade ReviewOne of Economist's Best Books , Economics and Business Category for 2004 "A lucid, entertaining and sobering look at the American patent system."--Hal R. Varian, New York Times "A disturbing analysis of how the patent system, the heart of the knowledge economy, is rotten. With plenty of examples, the authors explain how America's patent system has become slow and bureaucratic, awarding too many patents for the wrong sorts of things. As a result, it is a threat to this most innovative economy."--Economist "This book sounds an alarm bell that is hard to ignore since this is a policy area, which is very important for the national interests of the United States. The authors maintain that the present patent system in this country is profoundly flawed."--Giuseppe Ammendola, American Foreign Policy Interests "This is a timely and concise book that presents a comprehensive and convincing argument about the not-so-explicit changes in U.S. patent law beginning in 1982, changes that the authors argue have broken a patent system that worked previously."--Zainub Verjee, Leonardo Reviews "Adam Jaffe and Josh Lerner have given us a wonderfully timely book--and also one that is beautifully executed. If Congress is to reform the system, the public ought to understand its current failings."--Rochelle Dreyfuss, Michigan Law Review "The authors should be applauded for their straight-forward approach and their focus on definite practices such as the patent application process. With elucidating, often entertaining examples this book would be appropriate as supplemental text for students and scholars of intellectual property rights."--Erik N. Dean, Journal of Economic Issues
Table of ContentsPreface ix Introduction: They Fixed It, and Now It's Broke 1 CHAPTER 1: Today's Patent System at Work 25 CHAPTER 2: The Dark Side of Patents 56 CHAPTER 3: The Long Debate 78 CHAPTER 4: The Silent Revolution 96 CHAPTER 5: The Slow Starvation 127 CHAPTER 6: The Patent Reform Quagmire 151 CHAPTER 7: Innovation and Its Discontents 170 Notes 209 Index 229
