Despite the empirical turn of legal scholarship in intellectual property, the use of survival analysis remains relatively rare compared to more traditional statistical regression methods such as ordinary least squares and discrete-choice models such as probit or logit. This inattention deserves correction, as survival analysis is a powerful quantitative method when the duration between events is of interest. In this chapter, we discuss the underpinnings of survival analysis and why it is especially effective for conducting research in various contexts across intellectual property law.

We introduce basic methodological concepts and explain when survival analysis provides advantages over discrete-choice approaches. Using examples from the literature, we explain how to interpret survival analysis results. Rather than provide a mathematically rigorous guide to performing survival regressions, our aim is to familiarize the reader with survival analysis as an approach to exploring a host of interesting quantitative issues in intellectual property. For those interested in learning more about the details of survival analysis, we provide introductory reference material below