Study title

Using a controlled decision making experiment, we explore whether the length of compliance periods in certification processes affects behavior and overall efficiency of the system. In our incentivized experiments, participants must invest real effort in order to win a prize payment. Individual chances of winning the prize, however, are uncertain, with only half of participants ever being able to reach a commonly known threshold of points, required for obtaining the prize. Points are based on one's type and real effort. Participants have only incomplete information about their type, which is based on their relative performance in a quiz. We measure optimism bias, as well as attitudes to risk and ambiguity. Suppose that you are a British firm deciding whether, and how, to patent a new technology across Europe. Similar firms, operating in sectors reliant on intellectual property rights, add 4.7 trillion Euros to the European economy annually (see online resource under Related Resources). Research has also shown that obtaining a patent is associated with significant growth and productivity improvements on average (Balasubramanian and Sivadasan, 2011). Currently, you have only one option when it comes to patenting across Europe -- the misleadingly named European Patent. This is based on a single patent application, but only takes effect through a `bundle' of national patents in different European countries. This means that you have to pay additional translation and validation fees in each country in which you need protection. Also, you can only defend your patent, or challenge other companies' patents, country by country. Soon, you will have a new option: a European Union unitary patent (UP), overseen by a Unified Patent Court (UPC), parts of which will be located in London. Agreement on this unitary patent was only reached after late-night discussions between European Union heads of government, including David Cameron. The agreement has support from the UK's...