Patent Boxes: Innovation in Tax Policy and Tax Policy for Innovation

One of the most interesting policy developments in the global innovation race is known as a patent box, which provides preferential tax treatment for corporate income that comes from patented products. The goal is to encourage commercialization of R&D. Most people in the United States have never heard of patent boxes but within just the last four years, seven countries have adopted the idea. The Netherlands has even expanded its patent box into an "innovation box" that allows profits from R&D-based products or services that have not resulted in a patent or trademark to also be eligible for the lower patent box tax rate. Is the U.S. falling even further behind in the race for global innovation because it has not adopted a patent box? Can a patent box be a way for the U.S. to jump start its global competitiveness?

ITIF held a discussion on the patent box report, a first-ever look at the experiences of other nations with patent boxes, the economic evidence and theory regarding the effectiveness of patent boxes, and recommendations for the United States.