Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
专利的独特性：尼德兰联合王国的专利与创新
Patently peculiar: Patents and innovation in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
摘要
We study the patent system of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–30), a post‐Napoleonic state which brought together an early industrializing region that subsequently became Belgium with a later‐industrializing one comprising what is now the Netherlands. The system formally distinguished between patents of invention and patents of importation, protecting both domestic inventions and the introduction of foreign technologies. It also granted administrators considerable discretion over patent fees, terms, and conditions. Using a new hand‐collected dataset covering all patent applications, including those granted, withdrawn, and rejected, we analyse application outcomes across sectors, regions, and patent types. We show that administrators systematically differentiated between patents of invention and importation in ways consistent with a technology policy that encouraged the domestic introduction of useful foreign technologies. We also find that administrative decisions reflected assessments of novelty, utility, and applicant characteristics, without evidence of systematic discrimination. Despite high fees, the system remained broadly accessible across social classes. Patents of invention were more commonly associated with technically skilled inventors, whereas patents of importation were more often sought by commercially oriented applicants. Overall, the regime combined accessibility with substantive screening and illustrates how discretionary patent administration could support technology transfer during a formative period of industrialization.
中文摘要
我们研究荷兰联合王国（1815—30年）的专利制度。这一后拿破仑时代的国家将早期工业化、后来成为比利时的地区与后来工业化、构成今荷兰的地区结合在一起。该制度在形式上区分发明专利与引进专利，既保护国内发明，也保护外国技术的引入。它还在专利费、期限和条件方面赋予行政官员相当大的自由裁量权。利用一套新近手工收集、涵盖所有专利申请（包括已授予、撤回和驳回者）的数据集，我们分析了不同部门、地区和专利类型的申请结果。我们表明，行政官员对发明专利与引进专利进行系统性区分，其方式与鼓励在国内引入有用外国技术的技术政策相一致。我们还发现，行政决定反映了对新颖性、实用性和申请人特征的评估，没有系统性歧视的证据。尽管费用高昂，该制度在社会各阶层中仍大体可及。发明专利更常与具有技术技能的发明者相关联，而引进专利更常由具有商业取向的申请人寻求。总体而言，该制度将可及性与实质性审查结合起来，并说明在工业化的形成时期，自由裁量的专利管理如何能够支持技术转移。