Christian Helmers

Christian Helmers is a Professor of Economics at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. He holds visiting appointments at KU Leuven and has held academic roles at Universidad Carlos III Madrid and the London School of Economics. His research focuses on innovation economics, intellectual property law, and digitization. Helmers earned his DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford and holds an MSc from the same institution, alongside a B.A. from HEC Lausanne.

• PhD: University of Oxford (2011)
• MSc: University of Oxford (2006)
• B.A.: HEC University of Lausanne (2005)

His research interests span patent litigation dynamics, IP policy design, and the economics of digitization. Notable projects include analyzing the impact of scientific facilities on research agglomeration and evaluating the effects of patent thickets on technology entry. Helmers has advised organizations like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), European Patent Office (EPO), and Chilean Intellectual Property Office (INAPI).

Recent work explores topics such as judge-shopping in litigation, the behavior of non-practicing entities, and the design of post-grant patent reviews. He co-authored The Economics of Innovation and Intellectual Property (Oxford UP, 2024). Grants include the Hoover IP Squared Fellowship and the Innovators Network Foundation Fellowship.

Helmers teaches courses on the economics of IP, innovation, and digitization. He has published widely in top journals including the Economic Journal, Journal of Law and Economics, and European Journal of Law and Economics.