ABSTRACT
A focus by scholars on national innovation systems (NIS) has brought questions concerning technology-generation mechanisms squarely into the public policy debate. Given the rise of the Newly Industrialized Countries of Asia, the stabilization and growth of the economies in Central and South America, and the recent capitalistic intentions of Central and Eastern Europe, it is germane to consider the structure of national innovation systems in nations at unique stages of growth. A critical piece of any NIS is the patent system, designed to protect and disseminate technological information. In the United States, patent protection essentially begins at conception, provided the inventor proceeds with some diligence in filing. Past scholarship on specific parts of a NIS have suggested that changes in the environment can have an impact on firm behavior and, hence, on the overall generation of technology in a nation. Discerning which initiatives or unintended changes in the environment will have impacts is the major question of NIS.
