Okay, it was just an assumption on your part. It seems to me this is rampant in the IP practitioner world: they repeat the line that IP generates more wealth than it costs, with no evidence.. just their assumptions.

Even if you are right that in a system with patents, you need to have patents to get VC funding and to succeed, this does not show that the patent system generates more wealth than it costs. It just means that if that is the system, you have to work within those rules to prosper.

Or so it seems to me.

This was just an assumption. But, while I agree that some portion of patent-stimulated innovation would have happened eventually, I find the percentages incredible.

Admittedly, I’m basing this on the anecdotal evidence of my client base. In general, I find that our start-up company clients in the biotech, pharma, chemical and med device areas cannot get funded without patent exclusivity.

My experience is that patent protection is second only to the management team for VCs. I have worked with a number of clients who fizzled for lack of patent protection.

I’m not sure how real numbers could be determined but they’d be very interesting to see.

Stephen

“I disagree with your assumptions “that 75% of patent-stimulated innovation would have happened eventually, within 10 years of when it did occur,””

Stephen, this was just an assumption, arguendo. But curious, why do you disagree with it? What are the right numbers?

I appreciate your comments. You are correct, I used very imprecise language and did not mean “equal and opposite.” I have corrected the article to clarify.

Although I disagree with your assumptions “that 75% of patent-stimulated innovation would have happened eventually, within 10 years of when it did occur,” I agree there is always a concomitant cost associated with wealth generation, no matter the size of the wealth pie created.

As I mentioned above, this book is about IP management and not IP policy debate. For its intended purpose, I think you’ll find this a very good guide for strategic IP management.

Best,
Stephen