Understanding the economics of patents involves some fundamental difficulties with long-term determined investment expenditures and undetermined, heavily skewed earnings, difficulties accentuated by developments in the pro-patent era. Patent aggression and disputes with large damages claims have been instrumental in raising patent awareness in the past. A number of detailed government programs and policies were proposed for raising patent awareness and understanding which should be integrated with I & E educational policies. Similarly a number of detailed policy measures were proposed for stimulating company as well as certain government agency patenting such as subsidizing patenting investments along with R & D and improve early stage financing of R & D and patenting in SMEs. Patenting is also promoted by an enlargement of patentable subject matter by relaxing the technical requirement, everything else (like inventive step) being equal, a requirement that is not economically justified. Improved methods for IP valuation and pricing are called for in light of new international accounting roles for IP assets, increasing IP litigation, increasing technology and IP trade, and increasing use of IP for tax avoidance. Finally, patent information analysis for policy-making purposes should be promoted.
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