Search results for "utility model"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
Need for speed? Exploring the relative importance of patents and utility models among German firms
2017
Despite the wide use of two-tiered patent systems (patents and utility models (UMs)), there is little empirical evidence about how often UMs are actually used, what kind of firms use them to protect their intellectual property, and how firms rank them relative to patents. We offer such an analysis using data from Germany. We find that larger firms are more likely to use both protection methods. Moreover, a short life cycle of products and services is associated with an increased likelihood to use UMs. The features and functioning of the German UM system are of broader interest because it has been a benchmark for several second tier patent protection systems around the world. peerReviewed
IPR gender gaps: a first look at utility model, design right and trademark filings
2018
This study extends the analysis of the gender gap in patenting into design rights, utility model (UMs) and trademarks (TMs), which are complementary methods for protecting intellectual property. The analysis is descriptive and uses register data from the Finnish patent and registration office covering the years 1982–2013. A persistent gender gap is found for all intellectual property rights. The gap has narrowed over time for national patent, design right and TM filings but not for UM filings. It is found that, in comparison to men, women are relatively less often single inventors or designers and more often members of inventor or designer teams. peerReviewed
A Stackelberg-game approach to support the design of logistic terminals
2014
This paper deals with the design of logistic terminals taking Sicily, in the South of Italy, as a case study. It focuses on consolidation terminals for truckers and addresses the problem of optimising location pattern and public share in investments. This problem is solved through a Stackelberg game between the designer and the collective of road carriers. So a bilevel approach combines a system-optimum problem, at the upper level, with the carrier equilibrium problem, at the lower level. The choice behaviour of the lower-level player is simulated by a random utility model. The output of the game suggests that private companies and society should share the investments and the public contrib…
Location theories and business location decision: A micro-spatial investigation of a nonmetropolitan area in Canada
2016
This paper draws on location theories to statistically identify the relationship between the location of individual business establishments and the characterization of their local economic environment. Taking a micro-spatial perspective, the paper develops indicators from distance-based measures (DBM) to serve as independent variables in a discrete choice model (DCM). Using a 2006 database of individual business establishments in the Lower-St-Lawrence region—a coherent, nonmetropolitan subsystem of cities in the province of Québec, Canada—we provide an empirical analysis of the determinants of individual establishments’ location decisions in relation to their main economic activity within a…
The Challenges for Regulation and Control in an Environment of Rapid Technological Innovations
2019
Currently, amplified use of the ITC-technologies and digitalization in almost all industries has changed the value and significance of the information. The use of these new technologies offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and development, but at the same time ask for regulation and control policies to ensure appropriate storage and use of information and avoid illicit utilization of data. Moreover, use of innovative technologies such as blockchain-based technology, artificial intelligence, cloud technology, and others has complicated and disrupted the landscape of the financial services providers and their ancillary service providers such as auditors, underwriters, advisors, actua…
Do Overoptimistic Men Drive Creative Destruction? Evidence of Gendered Inventive Activity in Finland
2017
This study extends the analysis of the "patenting gender gap" into design rights and utility model (UMs), which are alternative methods for protecting intellectual property (IP). The analysis is descriptive and uses registry data from the Finnish patent and registration office (PRH) covering the years 1982–2013. A persistent gender gap is found for all intellectual property rights (IPRs): women are inventors and designers only in a small share of filings. The gap has narrowed over time for national patent and design right filings but not for UM filings. It is found that, in comparison to men, women are relatively less often individual inventors or designers and more often members of invento…
Empirical analyses of European intellectual property rights institutions
2018
This dissertation consists of introduction chapter and five empirical studies on European intellectual property rights institutions. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are micro-level studies and the perspective shifts to macro-level in Chapters 5 and 6. Chapters 2, 3, 5 and 6 analyze two-tiered patent systems and Chapter 4 focuses on design rights. Chapter 2 analyzes the choice between patent and utility model protection among German firms. The results indicate that larger firms are more likely to use both protection methods and that a short life cycle of products and services is associated with an increased likelihood to use utility models. Chapter 3 analyzes the role of utility models in patent filing …
The demand for IPR services - to use or not to use a professional representative
2021
We analysed the use of professional representative services and related outcomes in patent, utility model, design right and trademark filings. We found that: 1) there is a positive association between the use of a professional representative and the likelihood of grant or registration; 2) the demand for professional intellectual property rights (IPR) services is heterogeneous between IPR types: applicants are most likely to hire professional representatives (IPR agents and attorneys) for patents, followed by utility models, design rights and trademarks; 3) individual applicants are less likely to use professional representatives compared to firm applicants. peerReviewed
Car sharing demand estimation and urban transport demand modelling using stated preference techniques
2008
The research deals with the use of the stated preference technique (SP) and transport demand modelling to analyse travel mode choice behaviour for commuting urban trips in Palermo, Italy. The principal aim of the study was the calibration of a demand model to forecast the modal split of the urban transport demand, allowing for the possibility of using innovative transport systems like car sharing and car pooling. In order to estimate the demand model parameters, a specific survey was carried out inside the urban area of Palermo. The survey focused on the morning rush hour and involved mainly employees, self-employed workers and students (about 500 respondents) whose final destination was lo…
The role of utility models in patent filing strategies: evidence from European countries
2018
We examine the role of utility models (UM) in patent filing strategies. With an extensive patent family data from European countries, we explore the structures and characteristics of patent families, which include UMs. A simple typology of patent families with UM members is introduced. We document that the geographical scope of most patent families with UM members is purely national, which is in line with the conventional view that the UM mechanism covers technologically and economically marginal inventions. However, the image of a UM as a signal of a minor invention is an oversimplification. Applicants exhibit a mixture of uses for the UM and there exists a subset of UM filings linked to i…