Patent thickets and the market for innovation
Subtitle: evidence from settlement of patent disputes
By: Alberto Galasso and Mark Schankerman.
Contributors: Schankerman, Mark.; London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance.
Series: CEP discussion paper -- no. 889
Publisher: Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science
Published: 2008
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Description: We study how fragmentation of patent rights ('patent thickets') and the formation of the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affected the duration of patent disputes, and thus the speed of technology diffusion through licensing. We develop a model of patent litigation which predicts faster settlement agreements when patent rights are fragmented and when there is less uncertainty about court outcomes, as was associated with the 'pro-patent shift' of CAFC. The model also predicts that the impact of fragmentation on settlement duration should be smaller under CAFC. We confirm these predictions empirically using a dataset that covers nearly all patent suits in U.S. federal district courts during the period 1975-2000. Finally, we analyze how fragmentation affects total settlement delay, taking into account both reduction in duration per dispute and the increase in the number of required patent negotiations associated with patent thickets.
Notes: Title from PDF file (viewed on Oct. 10, 2008).

"August 2008."

Includes bibliographical references.

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