One prong of the antitrust litigation against Microsoft Corporation challenges the terms under which Microsoft has licensed its Windows operating system to computer manufacturers (OEMs). Plaintiffs complain that the license agreements' requirement that the first screen to appear when customers...

One prong of the antitrust litigation against Microsoft Corporation challenges the terms under which Microsoft has licensed its Windows operating system to computer manufacturers (OEMs). Plaintiffs complain that the license agreements' requirement that the first screen to appear when customers...

We investigate patent litigation, settlements and R&D incentives on a market where two firms develop technologies of differentiated products. Firms may sell IP rights to a Patent Assertion Entity (PAE) that acts as intermediary for patent monetization. We find that the effects of this so-called...

Patent nonuse occurs when a patentee fails to commercialize its patent, such as when the patent has no present commercial value or when attempts to license it have been unsuccessful. Patent nonuse may have anticompetitive purposes as well, and will lead to technology suppression when a patented...

In a patent infringement suit, the alleged infringer wins with a ruling of either patent invalidity or non-infringement. It is ambiguous which of these outcomes is preferred by the alleged infringer. Invalidity may increase current-period competition, but simultaneously removes constraints to...

We model “patent privateering”—whereby producing firms sell patents to patent assertion entities (PAEs) which then license them under the threat of litigation—in a bargaining game. PAEs can negotiate higher licensing fees than producing firms, because they cannot be counter-sued for...

The conventional wisdom is that the formation of patent pools is welfare enhancing when patents are complementary, since the pool avoids a double-marginalization problem associated with independent licensing. This conventional wisdom relies on the effects that pooling has on downstream prices....

Patentees sometimes use fraudulently procured patents to secure illegal monopolies, excluding efficient competitors and raising prices to consumers. While antitrust doctrine condemns the acquisition of monopoly power through fraudulently procured patents, antitrust liability hinges on whether...

This document comprises the proceedings of a roundtable on competition, patents and innovation held by the OECD's Competition Committee in Paris in October 2006. It consists of an executive summary and background paper by the Secretariat, 16 delegation contributions and a summary of the...

Because standard frequently incorporate patented inventions, standard setting organizations have designed ad hoc policies whereby the owners of such "standard essential patents" must commit ex ante to license them on fair reasonable and non-discriminatory terms to manufacturers of...