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An Empirical Study of Patent Grant Rates as a Function of Race and Gender
Author(s) -
Schuster W. Michael,
Davis R. Evan,
Schley Kourtenay,
Ravenscraft Julie
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
american business law journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.248
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1744-1714
pISSN - 0002-7766
DOI - 10.1111/ablj.12159
Subject(s) - race (biology) , function (biology) , balance (ability) , demographic economics , patent law , economics , political science , law , sociology , intellectual property , medicine , gender studies , evolutionary biology , biology , physical medicine and rehabilitation
In this article we examine the rate at which patent applications are granted as a function of the inventor's race and gender. Empirical analysis of more than 3.9 million U.S. applications finds minority and women applicants are significantly less likely to secure a patent relative to the balance of inventors. Further analysis indicates that a portion of this bias is introduced during prosecution at the Patent Office, independent of the quality of the application. Mechanisms underlying these disparities are explored. The article concludes with a discussion of our results and their interaction with patent law, innovation policy, and employment trends.