Introduction

• Published date: 21 May 2005
• Pages: 1-4
• Date: 21 May 2005
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0573-8555(2005)0000272005
• Author: M. McAleer,Daniel Slottje,Pei Syn Wee

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Economists have long been concerned about issues related to

economic growth, specifically with respect to how to improve and

control it and issues in understanding and quantifying technological

change. A key aspect of economic growth is differential inventive-

ness in the production function. In light of the difficulties in

measuring innovation, patent statistics appear to be one potentially

attractive method for examining factors that may contribute to

technical change. A patent is

an

intellectual (industrial) property (IP)

that confers to its owner or holder the monopoly rights to a product

or process over a stipulated period of

time.

Applications are granted

on the basis of innovation

and

non-obviousness (Besen

and

Raskind,

1991).

The United States Patent

and

Trademark Office (USPTO) has

been collecting data on patent applications

and

patents granted since

1790.

As the USPTO website notes, for over 200 years the basic role

of the Patent

and

Trademark Office (PTO) has remained the

same:

to

promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for

limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective

inventions (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution),

cf. http://www.uspto.gov. They further note that the PTO is a non-

commercial federal entity and one of 14 bureaus in the Department

of Commerce (DOC). To understand the magnitude of

the

USPTO,

its official website tells us that the office occupies a combined total

of over

1,400,000

square feet, in numerous buildings in Arlington,

VA. The office employs over 5000 full time equivalent (FTE) staff to