California Management Review · 2013 · 30 citations · 10 references
Patent PoolsPatent ProsecutionLawOptical Disc IndustryUnfair CompetitionSoftware LawPatent AnalysisManagementPatent PoolIntellectual PropertyIntellectual Property LawTechnology TransferIntellectual Property ImplementationLicensingPatent PolicyThree GenerationsTechnology LicensingPatent LawIp ManagementRoyalty StackingIntellectual Property PolicyBusinessScience And Technology StudiesTechnologyPatentability
Modern technologies face complex, fragmented intellectual property rights, leading to high transaction costs, royalty stacking, and new issues as platforms grow more complex. The article investigates how patent pools, including a novel pool‑of‑pools, can ease access to fragmented IPR in the optical disc industry. The authors analyze three generations of patent pools in the optical disc industry. Patent pools have proven useful for easing access to required IPR.
For modern technologies, access to intellectual property rights (IPR) is complex because it is fragmented among many owners. The required licensing agreements invoke considerable transaction costs and royalty stacking. Often, it is in the interest of the technology sponsor to ease access to the required IPR. Patent pools have proven useful to achieve this goal. This article examines the experiences with three generations of patent pools in the optical disc industry. Technology platforms are becoming increasingly complex, which leads to a fragmentation of IPR among many pools and causes new issues. A novel “pool-of-pools” can address these.
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