Research

Working Papers (Available on Request)

Challenges facing independent inventors: Do patents help? Co-authored with N. Pairolero, A. Toole, P.A. Pappas, and M. Teodorescu (Revise and resubmit)

Abstract: We present results from the first ever randomized control trial on independent inventors at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This experiment, called the Pro Se Pilot, led to an 8 percentage point increase in the likelihood of receiving a patent. We exploit the random assignment of treatment to identify causal impacts of receiving a patent on short term independent inventor outcomes. Our results suggest that patenting is key to inventive, innovative, and entrepreneurial activity. We find large effect sizes of patenting on reducing financial frictions, participating in markets for technology (18.7 pp), and signaling inventor value to established firms (24.8 pp).

• • • This paper won the 'Best Paper' award for the TIM division at AOM 2022.

    • This paper was designated as a 'Best Paper' for the TIM division at AOM 2022.

Closing the gender gap in patenting: Evidence from a randomized control trial at the USPTO Co-authored with  N. Pairolero, A. Toole, P.A. Pappas, and M. Teodorescu (Conditionally accepted)

Abstract: Women are underrepresented in patenting and the gap is not closing quickly. One major roadblock is the dearth of causal evidence on the potential effectiveness of interventional policies to address the gender patenting gap. Using a randomized control trial (RCT) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), we identify the heterogeneous causal impacts across gender and technologies of increased patent examination assistance on the probability of obtaining patent rights. Women applicants were 11 percentage points more likely than men to benefit from this assistance, and the benefits were largest for U.S. inventors, new U.S. inventors and in areas of technology where women had the worst relative outcomes. Our results suggest that a portion of the gender patenting gap could be eliminated through the provision of additional resources and assistance during patent prosecution.

• • • This paper was a 'Best Paper' finalist for the TIM division at AOM 2022.

    • This paper was designated as a 'Best Paper' for the TIM division at AOM 2022.

    • Working paper available on SSRN.

     The contribution of startups, venture finance, and patenting to innovation in U.S. agriculture Co-authored with G. Graff and N. Rada

Creative Destruction and Strategic Protection: Evidence from Pharmaceutical Patenting Co-authored with A. Marco

Patent Validity and Follow-on Patenting: Evidence From Ex Parte Reexamination at the USPTO

The Green Technology Pilot Program: Opportunities for Firms in a Green Economy Co-authored with Mike Teodorescu (Revise and resubmit)

Peer-reviewed Publications

• Patent Claims and Patent Scope (with A. Marco and J. Sarnoff). Research Policy (V48:9, November 2019)

• Innovation Activities and Business Cycles: Are Trademarks a Leading Indicator? (with A. Myers and A. Toole) - Industry and Innovation (V27:1-2, 2020) 

• Embracing Invention Similarity for the Measurement of Vertically Overlapping Claims (with J. Frumkin and N. Pairolero). Economics of Innovation and New Technology (V29:2, 2020)

• Examination Incentives, Learning, and Patent Office Outcomes: The Use of Examiner's Amendments at the USPTO (with N. Pairolero and M. Teodorescu). Research Policy (V50:10, December 2021).  

• Reproducibility in Management Science. (with M. Fišar, B. Greiner, C. Huber, E. Katok, A. Ozkes, and the Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration). Management Science, 2023. Note: Member of the Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration.

• Procrastination or incomplete data? An analysis of USPTO examiner search activity (with A. Giczy and N. Pairolero). Research Policy (V53:7, September 2024).

Work in Progress

• Incentives and Performance at the U.S. Patent Office (with D. Hegde and A. Marco)

• Hold-up, Patent Thickets and R&D (with Jesse Frumkin and Nicholas Pairolero)

• Foreign technological entry, intellectual property rights, and technology diffusion: Evidence from patenting filings at the USPTO (with H. Ju and P. Herman)

Policy Reports & Technical Documentation

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2022. “USPTO pilot program reduced gender disparities in patenting,” Economic Note, No. 102, Office of the Chief Economist, November 2022. https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/oce-ip-econ-note-102.pdf.

• Technical Documentation for Matching Patents and Trademarks to the 2017 National Establishment Time Series Database (with Ryan Hughes and Julian Kolev). OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST Economic Working Paper Series. USPTO Economic Working Paper No. 2021-4. September 2021. https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/oce-wp-ip-to-nets.pdf. 

• Progress and Potential: 2020 update on U.S. women inventor-patentees  (with Andrew Toole, Michelle Saksena, and others). OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST IP DATA HIGHLIGHTS Number 4, July 2020. https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/economic-research/progress-potential.

• Progress and Potential: A profile of women inventors on U.S. patents (with Andrew Toole, Amanda Myers, and others). OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIST IP DATA HIGHLIGHTS Number 2, February 2019. https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/economic-research/progress-potential.