Abstract: This study uses the reform of the simplified and complex civil litigation procedures as a quasi-natural experiment and constructs a difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of improved judicial efficiency on corporate innovation behavior. The results show that the simplified and complex procedures significantly increased the number of invention patent applications from enterprises and demonstrated a positive effect on facilitating the commercialization of collaborative and value-based patents, but their impact on the commercialization of self-developed patents was not significant. Mechanism analysis indicates that the simplified and complex procedures significantly optimized the “litigation - non-litigation separation” system in judicial procedures, improving the efficiency and quality of the adjudication of patent-related disputes, thereby promoting corporate innovation output and the commercialization of results. Further analysis reveals that the simplified and complex procedures had a more significant incentive effect on patent applications and commercialization for non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises with higher technological complexity.

Key words: judicial efficiency, patents, corporate innovation, commercialization of innovative achievements