Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery...

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Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley

description

Development of the US software industry : Software largely produced by systems manufacturers : “Unbundling” of software and hardware pricing and sales begins; ISVs enter : Adoption of the desktop personal computer creates a mass market for “packaged” software present: The Internet becomes an important market and an important channel for distribution and application of software. Importance, role of formal IP protection has changed through these four stages of development.

Transcript of Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery...

Page 1: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry

Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery

Haas School of BusinessU.C. Berkeley

Page 2: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Outline

• The development of the the US software industry and the changing role of formal IPRs.

• Trends in patenting by US software and computer firms in the “strong patent regime” of the 1980s and 1990s.– Patent propensities among leading packaged SW firms.– Copyright vs. patent protection of packaged software.– Continuations.

• Conclusions.

Page 3: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Development of the US software industry• 1945-68: Software largely produced by systems

manufacturers.• 1969-75: “Unbundling” of software and hardware

pricing and sales begins; ISVs enter.• 1978-93: Adoption of the desktop personal computer

creates a mass market for “packaged” software.• 1994-present: The Internet becomes an important

market and an important channel for distribution and application of software.

• Importance, role of formal IP protection has changed through these four stages of development.

Page 4: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

The “new economics” of PC and Internet software

• “Packaged” software industry’s economics resemble those of recorded music or publishing; “hits” are important.

• IP protection is of great economic importance in packaged software, less so in custom software.

• Internet has at least 3 effects on IP environment & incentives:– New low-cost distribution, marketing channels for packaged

software.– Expanded areas for application of “business methods”

software as complements to a service or product. – New possibilities for “open-source” software.

Page 5: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Evolution of the US legal regime for software IP

• Copyright protection for software explicitly endorsed in 1979 by CONTU. “Look & feel” cases began to strengthen copyright protection, but later cases (e.g., Borland) limited its reach.

• Software patents (esp. since creation of the CAFC) have been given more favorable treatment.

• 1994: Stac Electronics decision underscored the importance of patents.

• 1998: State Street upheld a financial “business methods” patent.

Page 6: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

The response to the “pro-patent” US regime in software, 1984-99

• Defining software patents.– Patents issuing to leading software-only firms.– Use IPC classes that exist throughout the 1984-99

period.– Resulting sample “overweights” packaged SW patents.

• Our data suggest that software patenting has more than doubled its share of all patents (1.8% to 5%) during 1984-99.

Page 7: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Figure 1:Software IPC Patents as Share of All Patents,

1984-1999

0.00%1.00%

2.00%3.00%

4.00%5.00%

6.00%

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

Page 8: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

The response to the “pro-patent” US regime in software: 2

• Leading packaged software firms increased their patent “propensity” (patents/R&D) >8x during 1988-97.

• “Incumbent” (founded before 1985) large packaged SW firms’ patent/R&D ratios are higher than those of “entrants” (founded after 1985) by late 1990s.

• Patenting in these fields by systems/device producers (IBM, Intel, Motorola, HP, et al.) increased as % of corporate patenting and as % of overall SW patenting, 1984-97.

• Patents/R&D spending up; registered copyrights/R&D spending down among packaged SW firms, 1985-97.

Page 9: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

15 Firms Weighted

0123456789

88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

FIG URE 12

W eighted patenting propensities of the Top -15 Softletter100, 1997P atenting, per R& D $ (x100 )

Page 10: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

0.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.0

90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

Incumbents versus Entrants, Weighted Patent Propensities, 15 SoftLetter 100, 1997

Entrants

Incumbents

FIGURE 18

Patenting, perR&D $ (x100)

Figure 17

Page 11: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Electronic Systems Firms' Share of SW Patenting

0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%

Firm software patents (by IPC c lassification) as share of SW pa tents, 1984-97(IBM, NEC, DEC, Com paq, H itachi, Fujitsu, NationalSem iconductor, T I, HP, Rockwell Int’l, Intel, Toshiba)

FIGURE 29

Page 12: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Copyright Propensities, 15 top SL100 '97 Firms, 1985-98

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

Page 13: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Software patent “quality”

• Copyright criticized in 1989 by Menell for lack of a sufficiently high “quality” threshold; patents viewed as preferable.

• Software patents, esp. business-methods patents, have been difficult for USPTO to review, because of limited patent-based prior art.

• Our citation-based measure of “quality” of large packaged-software firms’ patents (next slide) shows no decline in quality of these firms’ patents, relative to other software patents, during the “pro-patent” era.

• US university software patents also display no consistent trend in “quality.”

Page 14: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

1997 Softletter 100 Patent “Quality”

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95

Measured by citations to all firm IPC patents in a two-year forward window, 1984-95

FIGURE 19

Normalized Citations

Page 15: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

University Software Patent “Quality”

0.51.0

1.52.0

2.53.0

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95

FIGURE 31

Normalized Citations

Measured by citations to all firm IPC patents in a two-year forward window, 1984-95

Page 16: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Continuations in software patents• Continuations: “Refiling” of patent on same invention,

restarting examination, while preserving filing date of original application.– Unique to USPTO; other industrial-nation patent systems

have no equivalent procedure.• Motives:

– Prior to 1995 legislation that established patent term sa beginning at filing date, “submarine” patents could be pursued.

– Revision or response to rejection of claims, reflecting asymmetric information or expectations?

– “Wearing down” the USPTO through steady stream of refilings on a given invention (Quillen & Webster and Elliott present conflicting views on this).

Page 17: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Data on software patent continuations• “Continuation shares:” % of patents in a given issue

year that are based on continuations. 2+ year lag from applications explains the 1997 peak of issued patents with continuations (next slide).

• Like all US patents, share of SW patents using continuations has declined; but the share for SW patents, which initially (1975) was lower, remains higher. Why?– Not unique to SW; pharmaceuticals, biotech also exhibit

higher-than-average continuation shares.– Complexity, novelty of the technological field?

• Considerable differences among large packaged SW firms in share of patents issuing from continuations.

Page 18: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Percentage of all patents at end of a continuation chain, by issue date, '75-'00

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

Page 19: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Software IPC Continuation Issues as Share of Software IPC Patents, 1975-2000

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

1975

1978

1981

1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999

Page 20: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Conclusions

• Patenting in packaged SW has intensified in response to changes in market structure, legal environment.

• Patents appear to have supplanted copyright among large packaged SW firms.

• Citation-based indicators do not reveal declines in the “quality” of large packaged-SW firms’ patents during 1990s.

• Continuations account for a higher-than-average share of SW patents than is true of overall patents.

• These trends yield mixed evidence on any increase in “defensive” or “strategic” patenting by SW firms. More work with firm-level data and patents is needed.

Page 21: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Microsoft Patent Propensity, 1986-99

0

5

10

15

86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Patenting per$100 R&D

Figure 2:

Page 22: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Adobe Patent Propensity, 1986-99

0

5

10

15

86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Patenting per$100 R&D

Figure 3:

Page 23: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Novell Patent Propensity, 1986-99

0

5

10

15

20

25

86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Patenting per$100 R&D

Figure 4:

Page 24: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Borland (Inprise) Patent Propensity, 1986-99

0

20

40

60

80

86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Patenting per$100 R&D

Figure 8:

Page 25: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Microsoft Copyright Propensity, 1985-98

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

Figure 34

Page 26: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Novell Copyright Propensity, 1985-98

00.10.20.30.40.50.6

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

Figure 33

Page 27: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Adobe Copyright Propensity, 1985-98

05

1015202530

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

Figure 32

Page 28: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Copyright Propensities of Top-15 SL ’97 Publicly-traded Entrant and Incumbent firms (registration date)

Entrants

Incumbents

Figure 36

Page 29: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Microsoft Continuation Issues as Share of Patents, 1992-99

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Page 30: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Adobe Continuation Issues as Share of Patenting, 1992-99

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Page 31: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Borland (Inprise) Continuation Issues as Share of Patenting, 1992-99

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%

92 93 94 95 96 97 98

Page 32: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

Novell Continuation Issues as Share of Patenting, 1992-99

0.00%20.00%40.00%60.00%80.00%

100.00%

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Page 33: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

University Software Patenting and Overall Patenting, 1984-97

0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

Overall university patenting as share of all utility patents

University software patenting as share of all software patents

Page 34: Intellectual Property Protection in the US Software Industry Stuart J.H. Graham & David C. Mowery Haas School of Business U.C. Berkeley.

0.0%0.5%1.0%1.5%2.0%2.5%3.0%3.5%

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

FIG U R E 15

SL 100 ‘97 IP C Softw are Patents as a Share of A ll IPC Softw are Pa tents