Luncheon Series: “Patent Failure” with Jim Bessen of BU Law School

Today's luncheon series guest was Jim Bessen, a Lecturer in Law at Boston University School of Law, discussing patent failure.  He asked:

Is the U.S. patent system broken? Recently, business leaders, policymakers, and inventors have complained to the media and to Congress that today’s patent system stifles innovation instead of fostering it. James Bessen will discuss a broad range of evidence on the economic performance of the patent system. He finds that patents provide strong incentives for firms in a few industries, but for most firms today, patents actually discourage innovation because they fail to perform as well-defined property rights. This analysis provides a guide to policy reform.

If you missed today's talk, keep an eye out on MediaBerkman for the archived audio and video. Victoria Stodden of the Internet & Democracy Project also liveblogged the session.