Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • June 2007
  • Article
  • International Journal of Industrial Organization

What Is the Impact of Software Patent Shifts? Evidence from Lotus v. Borland

By: Josh Lerner and Feng Zhu
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Economists have debated the extent to which strengthening patent protection spurs or detracts from technological innovation. This paper examines the reduction of software copyright protection in the Lotus v. Borland decision. If patent and copyright protections are substitutes, weakening of one form should be associated with an increased reliance on the other. We find that the firms affected by the diminution of copyright protection disproportionately accelerated their patenting in subsequent years. But little evidence can be found for any harmful effects on firms' performance and incentive to innovate: in fact, the increased reliance on patents is correlated with growth in measures such as sales and R&D expenditures.

Keywords

Applications and Software; Patents; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

Citation

Lerner, Josh, and Feng Zhu. "What Is the Impact of Software Patent Shifts? Evidence from Lotus v. Borland." International Journal of Industrial Organization 25, no. 3 (June 2007): 511–529. (Earlier version distributed as National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 11168.)
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Authors

Josh Lerner

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

Feng Zhu

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • August 2023
    • Management Science

    Anti-Corruption, Government Subsidies, and Innovation: Evidence from China

    By: Lily Fang, Josh Lerner, Chaopeng Wu and Qi Zhang
    • July 2023
    • Journal of Portfolio Management

    Takahashi-Alexander Revisited: Modeling Private Equity Portfolio Outcomes Using Historical Simulations

    By: Dawson Beutler, Alex Billias, Sam Holt, Josh Lerner and TzuHwan Seet
    • July 2023
    • Management Science

    Marketplace Scalability and Strategic Use of Platform Investment

    By: Jin Li, Gary Pisano, Richard Xu and Feng Zhu
More from the Authors
  • Anti-Corruption, Government Subsidies, and Innovation: Evidence from China By: Lily Fang, Josh Lerner, Chaopeng Wu and Qi Zhang
  • Takahashi-Alexander Revisited: Modeling Private Equity Portfolio Outcomes Using Historical Simulations By: Dawson Beutler, Alex Billias, Sam Holt, Josh Lerner and TzuHwan Seet
  • Marketplace Scalability and Strategic Use of Platform Investment By: Jin Li, Gary Pisano, Richard Xu and Feng Zhu
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College