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# Composite value index of design patent indicators

## Details

**Authors** Thoma

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** Industrial and Corporate Change

**Discipline** Business & Management

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtag041) 
10.1093/icc/dtag041

## In authors' words

### Abstract

Design IP protection provides firms with temporary exclusivity in appropriating the economic returns from their investments in product differentiation through external appearance. This paper contributes to the literature on the valuation of design IP rights by offering a novel empirical analysis of the value distribution of US design patents. It develops a composite value index that combines 18 design indicators regarding the quality of a patent’s prior art, the patent prosecution characteristics, and the economic impact of the patent. Patent-level regression analysis of enforcement value demonstrates that the composite index shows a satisfactory explanatory power as compared to when the indicators are considered separately. At the firm level, the proposed index is positively and significantly correlated with a firm’s market value above and beyond other knowledge and IP assets.

### What they found (results)

An 18-indicator composite index predicted patent enforcement value and firm market value more effectively than any individual design-patent indicator alone.

## Commentary

### In short

The study shows that combining multiple patent indicators into a single composite index produces predictive value beyond that of the individual indicators.

**Patterns it shows** S, R

**Added** 2026-08-05

**How to cite this** Thoma (2026). Composite value index of design patent indicators. Industrial and Corporate Change.