We investigate whether patents that are jointly held by legally independent companies help sustain product-market collusion. We use a simple model of repeated interactions to show that joint patents can serve collusive purposes. Our model generates two testable predictions: when joint patents...

Over the century-long period from just before the American Revolution until the end of the Civil War the United States underwent a profound transformation, beginning with its political break from Britain and expanding rapidly to embrace political and economic liberalism and elements of equality...

As an economist, I find the current state of the law regarding damages for patent infringement – most particularly that relating to apportionment – frustrating at best and woefully incomplete at worst. Namely, damages case law for utility patent infringement provides two very different, but...

Judges wield discretion when ruling on all manner of legal and equitable issues. For centuries, judges have relied on their discretion when considering whether an equitable defense barred actions seeking legal relief. As part of that process, courts have incorporated many equitable defenses into...

Guaranties and suretyships reduce the risk of default and today remain essential arrangements in many commercial and consumer transactions. A guarantor or surety promises to pay for the debt of a third party and may become primarily liable on that debt. Despite the significance of such a promise...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit currently reverses from one-third to nearly one-half of all patent claim construction decisions by the U.S. district courts. Because claim construction often determines the outcome of patent litigation, the high appellate claim...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit currently reverses from one-third to nearly one-half of all patent claim construction decisions by the U.S. district courts. Because claim construction often determines the outcome of patent litigation, the high appellate claim...

This paper assesses the impact of adopting a post-grant review institution in the US patent system by comparing the 'opposition careers' of European Patent Office (EPO) equivalents of litigated US patents to those of a control group of EPO patents. We demonstrate several novel methods of...

This article examines the issue of the appropriate scope of review of economic evidence enshrined in the discretionary assessments of utility regulators in the US and the UK. It advances a balance of institutional competencies approach to the question of the degree of deference owed to the...