Patent applications often reveal proprietary information to competitors, but does such disclosure harm firms or also benefit them? We develop and empirically support a theory showing that when firms patent enhancements to incumbent, nondisruptive technologies, they can cooperate more easily on these technologies, increasing their profitability. The downside of cooperating on nondisruptive technologies is that the investment in and commitment to disruptive technologies decline. To improve their commitment to disruptive technologies, some firms rely more on trade secrecy. We provide empirical support for these predictions. We document that after a patent reform that made information about patent applications widely accessible, firms cooperate more and charge higher markups. Furthermore, the nature of patented innovation has changed, with the proportion of nondisruptive patents increasing substantially. Finally, while some firms start patenting more, others patent less and rely more on trade secrecy, with the response depending on the attractiveness of firms' innovation prospects.

中文翻译：

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披露、专利和商业秘密


专利申请通常会向竞争对手泄露专有信息，但这种披露是损害公司还是使公司受益？我们发展并实证支持一种理论，该理论表明，当公司为现有的非破坏性技术申请专利时，他们可以更轻松地在这些技术上进行合作，从而提高盈利能力。在非中断技术方面合作的缺点是，对颠覆性技术的投资和承诺会下降。为了提高对颠覆性技术的承诺，一些公司更加依赖贸易保密。我们为这些预测提供了实证支持。我们记录了在专利改革使专利申请信息广泛可访问之后，公司合作更多，并收取更高的加价。此外，专利创新的性质已经发生变化，非中断专利的比例大幅增加。最后，虽然一些公司开始增加专利，但其他公司开始减少专利，并且更多地依赖贸易保密，其反应取决于公司创新前景的吸引力。