Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights

We study the determinants of patent suits and their outcomes over the period 1978-1999 by linking detailed information from the U.S. patent office, the federal court system, and industry sources. The probability of being involved in a suit is very heterogeneous, being much higher for valuable patents and for patents owned by individuals and smaller firms. Thus the patent system generates incentives, net of expected enforcement costs, that differ across inventors. Patentees with a large portfolio of patents to trade, or having other characteristics that encourage 'cooperative' interaction with disputants, more successfully avoid court actions. At the same time, key post-suit outcomes do not depend on observed characteristics. This is good news: advantages in settlement are exercised quickly, before extensive legal proceedings consume both court and firm resources. But it is bad news in that the more frequent involvement of smaller patentees in court actions is not offset by a more rapid resolution of their suits. However, our estimates of the heterogeneity in litigation risk can facilitate development of private patent litigation insurance to mitigate this adverse affect of high enforcement costs.

Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights

We study the determinants of patent suits and their outcomes over the period 1978-1999 by linking detailed information from the U.S. patent office, the federal court system, and industry sources. The probability of being involved in a suit is heterogeneous, being much higher for valuable patents and for patents owned by individuals and smaller firms. Thus the patent system generates incentives, net of expected enforcement costs, that differ across inventors. Patentees with a large portfolio of patents to trade, or having other characteristics that encourage "cooperative" interaction with disputants, more successfully avoid court actions. At the same time, key post-suit outcomes do not depend on observed characteristics. This is good news: advantages in settlement are exercised quickly, before extensive legal proceedings consume both court and firm resources. But it is bad news in that the more frequent involvement of smaller patentees in court actions is not offset by a more rapid resolution of their suits. However, our estimates of the heterogeneity in litigation risk can facilitate development of private patent litigation to mitigate this adverse effect of high enforcement costs.Parents, court actions, settement.

The use of portfolios to inform classroom practice

The Use of Portfolios to Inform Classroom Practice is a case study examining the effects of a portfolio assessment system introduced into a second grade classroom. The research was based on the philosophical analysis of Duschl and Gitomer (1991) who describe the concept of a portfolio culture : as a result of using literacy portfolios in the classroom, what changes, if any, occur in students\u27 metacognition, attitudes, behaviors, empowerment and engagement? The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey as well as two teacher-constructed semantic differential instruments were used to collect quantitative measures on the effects of portfolio use. These measures were supplemented with interviews of parents and children as well as teacher observations to characterize the changes that occurred in the class as a result of the introduction of the portfolio assessment system. The outcomes from this analysis indicated that there were positive changes in all aspects under study

Combining census and survey data to study spatial dimensions of poverty

Poverty maps, providing information on the spatial distribution of living standards, are an important tool for policy making and economic research. Policymakers can use such maps to allocate transfers and inform policy design. The maps can also be used to investigate the relationship between growth and distribution inside a country, thereby complementing research using cross-county regressions. The development of detailed poverty maps is difficult because of data constraints. Household surveys contain data on income or consumption but are typically small. Census data cover a large sample but do not generally contain the right information. Poverty maps based on census data but constructed in an ad-hoc manner can be unreliable. The authors demonstrate how sample survey data and census data can be combined to yield predicted poverty rates for all households covered by the census. This represents an improvement over ad hoc poverty maps. However, standard errors on the estimated poverty rates are not negligible, so additional efforts to cross-check results are warranted.Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Services&Transfers to Poor,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Public Health Promotion,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Health Economics&Finance,Poverty Assessment,Environmental Economics&Policies,VN-Acb Mis -- IFC-00535908

Arts Education in a Teacher Education Curriculum: A Model Based on Comparative Analysis of Arts Education Theories

In this study the historical role of the arts in America was briefly traced as well as the history of federal interest in the arts and arts education. The importance of arts education for the individual, the school, and society was stated. Four basic tenets of arts education were derived from research and literature which provided criteria for effective arts activities and strategies. These tenets suggest that arts education (1) should be based on experiential, discovery-based, process-oriented approaches; (2) should be viewed as a developmental activity; (3) should focus on the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning; and (4) should provide a perspective of the world. Pedagogical structures such as the single-art approach, the interdisciplinary approach, the integrative approach, and the magnet school approach were identified as well as the potential and value of community resources which are suggested as vital supplements to in-school instruction. There is a relative lack of arts experiences in teacher preparation situations and, even when present, such experiences often focus on the single-subject approach--not integration. The need for an arts education course for future teachers has been recognized and chapter four of the study contains strategies in creative movement, writing, art awareness activities, creative dramatics, and music which may be used for instruction of teacher preparation students in an arts education course which would focus upon the various theories, tenets, and research findings of the author. Arts education should be an integral component of any elementary curriculum and future teachers must have the opportunity to take a course in arts education in their teacher preparation studies. This course would be experiential, discovery-based, process-oriented, would enhance and enrich their educational opportunities, and would assist the students in an awareness of the three domains of learning. Finally, it would enrich the students\u27 perspectives regarding the value and worth of the arts education experience

Zebrafish studies identify serotonin receptors mediating antiepileptic activity in Dravet syndrome.

Dravet syndrome is a life-threatening early-onset epilepsy not well controlled by antiepileptic drugs. Drugs that modulate serotonin (5-HT) signalling, including clemizole, locaserin, trazodone and fenfluramine, have recently emerged as potential treatment options for Dravet syndrome. To investigate the serotonin receptors that could moderate this antiepileptic activity, we designed and synthesized 28 novel analogues of clemizole, obtained receptor binding affinity profiles, and performed in vivo screening in a scn1lab mutant zebrafish (Danio rerio) model which recapitulates critical clinical features of Dravet syndrome. We discovered three clemizole analogues with 5-HT receptor binding that exert powerful antiepileptic activity. Based on structure-activity relationships and medicinal chemistry-based analysis, we then screened an additional set of known 5-HT receptor specific drug candidates. Integrating our in vitro and in vivo data implicates 5-HT2B receptors as a critical mediator in the mechanism of seizure suppression observed in Dravet syndrome patients treated with 5-HT modulating drugs

Stylised Fact of Patent Litigation: Value, Scope and Ownership

This paper investigates the characteristics of litigated patents by combining for the first time information about patent case filings from the U.S. district courts and detailed data from the U.S. Patents and Trademark Office. A series of indicators is constructed for the factors which the theoretical literature suggests contribute to litigation: the frequency of disputes, the size and asymmetry of stakes, the structure of information, and costs. Compared to a random sample of U.S. patents from the same cohorts and technology areas, it is found that more valuable patents and those with domestic owners are considerably more likely to be involved in litigation. Patents owned by individuals are at least as likely to be the subject of a case as corporate patents, and litigation is frequently in new technology areas. The results are interpreted with reference to theoretical models of litigation and settlement and the effects of patent litigation on the incentive to invest in R&D is discussed.Patents, litigation, R&D.