The strategic use of patents and its implications for enterprise and competition policies

TLDR

The study was commissioned to examine the strategic use of patents and its implications for enterprise and competition policy. The report aims to review patenting behaviour, assess its increasing strategic nature, and evaluate its implications for competition and enterprise policies. The European Commission conducted case investigations and legislative reviews to identify changes in patent use. The study found that firms are increasingly using intellectual property strategically.

Abstract

This report was commissioned as a study into the strategic use of patents. In the course of its case investigations and legislative reviews the European Commission became aware of changes in the use of intellectual property, in particular the use of patents. It was noted that firms’ uses of intellectual property are becoming increasingly strategic. This raised concerns about the implications of firms’ patenting behaviour for enterprise and competition policy. The following report contains a comprehensive review of patenting behaviour, the extent to which patenting is becoming more strategic and the implications this has for competition and enterprise policies .