This paper documents the importance of foreign patents for the technology transfer of inventions created in the laboratories of the U.S. federal agencies. First, we describe the patent portfolios of the 11 federal agencies with 98 percent of the research performed within the laboratories of all U.S. federal agencies. Second, we estimate the distributed lag function showing the effects on license revenue of an agency’s history of patent applications for inventions granted U.S. patents. The estimation shows that those effects depend on whether the agency also obtained foreign patent protection for its inventions. Third, we estimate a dynamic panel data model of license revenues as a function of the history of applications and granted patents. The evidence supports the view that an agency that obtains U.S. patents for its technologies but does not obtain foreign patent protection disadvantages the corporations that license the agency’s technologies and then face international competition from firms that copy those technologies and compete with lower costs because they do not incur full development costs or pay royalties for licensing the technologies. An increase in foreign patents would increase the willingness of companies to undertake the development costs necessary to have successful commercial products, and technology transfer—with more remuneration to U.S. taxpayers via license royalties—of inventions from the laboratories of U.S. federal agencies would increase.

本文记录了外国专利对于在美国联邦机构实验室中创造的发明进行技术转让的重要性。首先，我们描述11个联邦机构的专利组合，其中98％的研究是在所有美国联邦机构的实验室中进行的。其次，我们估计了分布式滞后函数，该函数显示了代理机构授予美国专利的发明的专利申请历史对许可收入的影响。估算表明，这些影响取决于该机构是否也为其发明获得了外国专利保护。第三，我们估计了许可证收入的动态面板数据模型，该模型是应用程序和已授予专利的历史的函数。证据支持获得美国专利的代理机构的观点 为其技术申请专利但未获得外国专利保护劣势的公司授予代理机构技术的许可证，然后面对来自复制这些技术并以较低成本进行竞争的公司的国际竞争，因为它们不会招致全部开发成本或为许可使用技术而支付特许权使用费。外国专利的增加将增加公司承担成功的商业产品所需的开发成本的意愿，并且将增加美国联邦机构实验室的技术转让（通过许可使用费向美国纳税人收取更多的报酬）。