The Geography of Innovation and Britain’s 1902 Patent Reforms (opens in new tab)

In 1905 Britain's patent system underwent a pivotal change. For the first time, patent examiners began checking applications for novelty, a move aimed at eliminating duplicate inventions and rewarding genuine originality. Anya Tate's research reveals that altered incentives for inventors did not suffice to shift the spatial distribution of invention. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Britain’s patent system