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  • 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
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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.)
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About The Authors

Josh Lerner

Entrepreneurial Management
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Feng Zhu

Technology and Operations Management
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More from the Authors
  • The Diffusion of New Technologies By: Aakash Kalyani, Marcela Carvalho, Nicholas Bloom, Tarek Hassan, Josh Lerner and Ahmed Tahoun
  • Private Equity and Workers: Modeling and Measuring Monopsony, Implicit Contracts, and Efficient Reallocation By: Kyle Herkenhoff, Josh Lerner, Gordon M. Phillips, Francisca Rebelo and Benjamin Sampson
  • Impact Investing and Worker Outcomes By: Josh Lerner, Markus Lithell and Gordon M. Phillips
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