Antitrust Limits to Patent Settlements
Author | : Carl Shapiro |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2013 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:1375392383 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (83 Downloads) |
Download or read book Antitrust Limits to Patent Settlements written by Carl Shapiro and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Patents, patent litigation, and patent settlements increasingly influence competition. Settlements of patent disputes come in many forms, including licensing and cross-licensing agreements, patent pools, mergers, and joint ventures. While frequently procompetitive, such settlements can stifle competition and harm consumers. I propose a specific antitrust rule limiting such settlements: a settlement must leave consumers at least as well off as they would have been from ongoing patent litigation. After establishing that profitable settlements satisfying this constraint generally exist, I show how this antitrust rule can be used to evaluate three types of settlements: mergers, patent pools, and negotiated entry dates.