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Journal Article
The uninvited guest: patents on Wall Street
For at least the past twenty-five years, financial services industries have been creating innovative products and services without the help of patents. The 1998 State Street Bank case changed all this, making patents freely available in these industries. Will patents help or hurt financial services innovation in the long run? This article sheds some light on this issue. ; Before the advent of patents, several ?appropriability? mechanisms protected financial services innovation: ?first mover? advantages, complementary or ?cospecific? assets, and trade secrecy. Evidence suggests that, in the ...