Survival Analysis in Intellectual Property Research

Survival analysis is a powerful quantitative method when the duration between events is of interest. We introduce the use of survival analysis in intellectual property research through basic methodological concepts and explain when survival analysis provides advantages over traditional statistical regression methods and discrete-choice approaches such as probit or logit. Using examples from the literature, we also explain how to interpret survival analysis results. While we note helpful reference material, our discussion is less a mathematically rigorous guide to performing survival regressions and more a familiarization with survival analysis as a means for further exploring research questions in intellectual property.