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Inventing Around Edison’S Lamp Patent: The Role Of Patents In Stimulating Downstream Development And Competition, Ron D. Katznelson, John Howells

Ron D. Katznelson

We provide the first detailed empirical study of inventing around patent claims. The enforcement of Edison’s incandescent lamp patent in 1891-1894 stimulated a surge of patenting. Most of these later patents disclosed inventions around the Edison patent. Some of these patents introduced important new technology in their own right and became prior art for new fields, indicating that invention around patents contributes to dynamic efficiency. Contrary to widespread contemporary understanding, the Edison lamp patent did not suppress technological advance in electric lighting. The market position of General Electric (“GE”), the Edison patent-owner, weakened through the period of this patent’s enforcement.