The Perryman Group found the PTAB has grown the U.S. economy, saved U.S. manufacturing jobs, and reduced litigation costs

Innovation is a key factor in U.S. economic growth and competitiveness—one balanced by transaction costs and freedom-to-operate. One critical element of the infrastructure facilitating product development and commercialization—the patent system—protects and allows profit from intellectual property and encourages its widespread adoption and implementation through well-calibrated patent scope.  That system includes the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which rechristened the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and created the administrative post-grant review procedures in wide use today. 

In a recent study, The Perryman Group (TPG), a world-renowned group of economists widely used and respected by industry and government, measured the effect of the AIA and PTAB on the U.S. economy. TPG found the AIA and PTAB substantially reduced patent litigation and transaction costs while generating billions in economic benefit.  The biggest gains were in manufacturing and trade, transportation, and utilities.  In short, the legislation saved U.S. jobs and has helped drive substantial economic gains over the past decade. 

TPG, using well-established economic analyses, first estimated the direct cost savings associated with reduced litigation, and then computed the total economic benefits of the associated efficiency gains as they have rippled through the economy.

TPG estimates that over the 2014-19 period, cost savings associated with the PTAB led to an increase in U.S. business activity of $2.95 billion in gross product, $1.41 billion in personal income, and nearly 13,500 job-years of employment. With about 10,085 AIA/PTAB petitions filed over the 2014-19 period, the estimated economic benefit averaged over $292,900 per case in U.S. gross product and $139,985 in personal income.

Economic performance in the United States over the long term is tied in large part to innovation and freedom-to-operate; this study demonstrates that the AIA and PTAB has not only supported innovation and reduced the patent tax on U.S. manufacturers, but has also generated substantial economic benefits across all sectors of the U.S. economy.  

The Perryman Report is part of Unified Patents’ Patent Quality Initiative (PQI), an effort to gather and provide objective data and research demonstrating how lowering patent quality will inevitably lead to even higher cost and risk for U.S. SMEs, inventors, and manufacturers, and can lead to less innovation, fewer U.S. jobs, and a drain on the U.S. economy.  Our PQI aims to provide data, studies, and testimonials to give policymakers and practitioners a clear picture of the state of the patent system.  More information about our PQI efforts can be found here.

For far greater detail, read the entire report HERE.

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