Impact of patent policy changes on R&D expenditure by industries in India

Abstract

Emerging economies realizing the importance of innovation are taking steps to enhance their innovative capabilities. Among the tools used, institutional factor such as patent protection policy is being increasingly used by such economies, despite mixed research evidence linking patent protection policies and innovation. This study investigates the effects of patent policy changes on stimulating innovation in India. Panel data regression technique is used on data for 1989–1990 to 2009–2010. The results indicate that patent policy changes, specifically, increase in the protection duration, enforcement mechanism, and membership into international convention dimensions of patent policy have positive influence on the R&D intensity. © 2017 The Authors. The Journal of World Intellectual Property © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd