Research On Patents

摘要

I support the policy direction proposed by Robert Hunt and Brian Kahin in "Reexamining the Patent System" (Issues, Fall 2008), but does their analysis go far enough? Arguably, innovation is as important to the long-run health of the economy as are interest rates. To set interest rates, our country has the autonomous institution of the Federal Reserve, which excels at gathering and analyzing data in support of its financial decisions. An institution with a similar data-driven orientation for the patent system only seems logical.