Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Gaetan de Rassenfosse
Author-Workplace-Name: Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne
Author-Name: Gabriele Pellegrino
Author-Workplace-Name: Catholic University of the Sacred Heart
Author-Name: Emilio Raiteri
Author-Workplace-Name: Eindhoven University of Technology
Title: Do Patents Enable Disclosure? Evidence from the Invention Secrecy Act
Abstract: This paper provides empirical evidence suggesting that patents may facilitate knowledge disclosure. The analysis exploits the Invention Secrecy Act, which grants the U.S. Commissioner for Patents the right to prevent the disclosure of new inventions that represent a threat to national security. Using a two-level matching approach, we document a negative and large relationship between the enforcement of a secrecy order and follow-on inventions, as captured with patent citations and text-based measures of invention similarity. The effect carries over to after the lift of the secrecy period, suggesting a lost generation of inventions. The results bear implications for innovation and intellectual property policy.
Classification-JEL: O31; O33; O34
Keywords: disclosure; follow-on invention; knowledge diffusion; patent
Length: 33 pages
Creation-Date: 2023-12
File-URL:  https://cdm-repec.epfl.ch/iip-wpaper/WP26.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle:  RePEc:iip:wpaper:26