How do patent-based measures inform product commercialization? —The case of the United States pharmaceutical industry

Abstract Patents have frequently been used to analyze innovation and technological trajectory in the economic literature. The present study explored how 13 frequently used patent indicators inform product approval probability and product commercialization speed. A total of 2943 drugs approved by the FDA and the corresponding 4660 patents were analyzed to understand how patent-based indicators inform 1) which factors influence the likelihood of product approval and 2) which factors influence product commercialization speed. The results show that inventor count, nonpatent reference count, foreign reference count, originality index, claim count, and litigation probability index increase product commercialization probability and speed.