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Publications
  • fall 2007
  • Article
  • RAND Journal of Economics

The Design of Patent Pools: The Determinants of Licensing Rules

By: Josh Lerner, Marcin Strojwas and Jean Tirole
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Abstract

Patent pools are an important but little-studied economic institution. In this paper, we first make a set of predictions about the licensing terms associated with patent pools. The theoretical framework predicts that (a) pools consisting of complementary patents are more likely to allow members to engage in independent licensing and (b) that the requirement that firms license patents to the pool (grantbacks) should be associated with pools that consist of complements and allow independent licensing. We then empirically examine the terms of 63 pools, and show that licensing rules are consistent with these hypotheses.

Keywords

Governing Rules, Regulations, And Reforms; Collaborative Innovation And Invention; Patents; Rights

Citation

Lerner, Josh, Marcin Strojwas, and Jean Tirole. "The Design of Patent Pools: The Determinants of Licensing Rules." RAND Journal of Economics 38, no. 3 (fall 2007): 610–625. (Earlier version distributed as National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 9680.)
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About The Author

Josh Lerner

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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    • 2020
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    Fencing Off Silicon Valley: Cross-Border Venture Capital and Technology Spillovers

    By: Ufuk Akcigit, Sina T. Ates, Josh Lerner, Richard Townsend and Yulia Zhestkova
    • Summer 2020
    • Journal of Economic Perspectives

    Venture Capital's Role in Financing Innovation: What We Know and How Much We Still Need to Learn

    By: Josh Lerner and Ramana Nanda
    • 2021
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    Two Case Studies on the Financing of Forest Conservation

    By: Andrew Baxter, Connor Cash, Josh Lerner and Ratnika Prasad
More from the Authors
  • Fencing Off Silicon Valley: Cross-Border Venture Capital and Technology Spillovers By: Ufuk Akcigit, Sina T. Ates, Josh Lerner, Richard Townsend and Yulia Zhestkova
  • Venture Capital's Role in Financing Innovation: What We Know and How Much We Still Need to Learn By: Josh Lerner and Ramana Nanda
  • Two Case Studies on the Financing of Forest Conservation By: Andrew Baxter, Connor Cash, Josh Lerner and Ratnika Prasad
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