摘要：This paper aims to propose a structural equation model which relates the variables
that determine the patent value. Even though some patent indicators have been
directly used to infer the private or social value of innovations, the results suggest
that patent value is a more complex variable that may be modeled as an endogenous
unobservable variable in a first- and in a second-order model, and which depends respectively
on three and four constructs. Such variables include the knowledge used
by companies to create their inventions, the technological scope of the inventions, the
international scope of protection, and the technological usefulness of the inventions.
The model allows the conceptualization of patent value into a potential and a recognized
value of intangible assets, aiming toward an index construction approach. Partial
least square (PLS) path modelling is performed as an exploratory model-building
procedure. We use a sample of 2,901 patents granted in the United States in the field
of renewable energy.
