Technical standard setting, though conducted largely through private organizations, possesses many attributes of a public function. By and large, SDO policies operate effectively to enable competitors to collaborate to develop standards that produce network effects and yield significant social...

This paper studies the problem of patent holdout. Part I reviews the economic theory of holdout, with a specific emphasis on patents. It shows that the ordinary concept of holdout refers to the non-transacting conduct of a property owner, and that “patent trespass” is a better...

The theory of patent “hold-out” posits that frictions in the market for licensing standard-essential patents (SEPs) provide incentive for prospective licensees to opportunistically delay taking licenses. We derive empirically testable predictions from the literature supporting hold-out...

An extensive literature exists regarding the patent disclosure and licensing commitments made by participants in standards-development organizations (SDOs), and how such commitments affect the assertion of standards-essential patents (SEPs). But this literature largely ignores the acquisition...

Patent holders are, with increasing frequency, making public promises to refrain from asserting patents under certain conditions, or to license patents on terms that are “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” (FRAND). These promises or “patent pledges” generally precede formal license...

Most of the academic and policy attention in the past two decades has been focused on patent holdup theory that posits how weak patents asserted under the threat of injunctive relief can extract greater value than their true worth. This is peculiar given that the eBay ruling in 2006, and its...

Despite their potential efficiency benefits, voluntary consensus standards have over the past decade become the subject of significant private litigation, regulatory enforcement and policy debate. Much of the controversy centers on the perceived proliferation of patents covering standardized...

This paper explores the issue of apportionment through the determination of the appropriate royalty base in the adjudication of patent damages, or more precisely, FRAND royalties for standard essential patents (SEPs). Through the use of an intellectual value chain (IVC) framework, this paper...

This paper has attempted a comprehensive investigation of the economic impact of patent holdout by (1) providing a theoretical foundation of patent holdout and its economic implications, (2) operationalizing this theory into several testable economic models, and (3) testing the models with...

This paper investigates the role of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection and Environmental Policies (EPs) on clean (renewable) and dirty (fossil-based) technology diffusion from top-innovators. IPR protection and EPs are extensively debated policy tools, as IPR protection addresses...