Download or read book The Economics of the European Patent System written by Dominique Guellec and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007-02 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why does society allow, or even encourage, private appropriation of inventions? When do patents encourage competition, when do they hamper it? These questions and many more are addressed by two eminent scholars in this groundbreaking analysis of the economic foundations of the European patent system.