The article looks to explain why startups do/do not patent. Overlooking public policy issues, the article focuses on the question of "whether patents are valuable to the firms that have them. If patents do not have a positive value for the firms that acquire them, then it is unlikely that the net effects of the patent system are positive." The article looks at empirical data from the pre-revenue-generating, and the revenue-generating stages of startups. The paper concludes that the firms that do patent (42% don't) do so as a matter of course and that patents have little value in the pre-revenue-generating stages. However, patents also allow smaller firms to remain competitive amongst larger incumbents as well as facilitate the technology transfers between the larger/smaller companies.