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Patent Licensing, Technology Transfer, & Innovation, Robin C. Feldman, Mark A. Lemley
Patent Licensing, Technology Transfer, & Innovation, Robin C. Feldman, Mark A. Lemley
Robin C Feldman
Traditional justifications for patents are all based on direct or indirect contribution to the creation of new products. Patents serve the social interest if they provide not just invention, but innovation the world would not otherwise have. Non-practicing entities (NPEs) as well as product-producing companies can sometimes provide such innovation, either directly, through working the patent or transfer of technology to others who do, or indirectly, when others copy the patented innovation. The available evidence suggests, however, that patent licensing demands and lawsuits from NPEs are normally not cases that involve any of these activities.
Some scholars have argued that …
Patent Demands And Initial Public Offerings, Robin C. Feldman, Evan Frondorf
Patent Demands And Initial Public Offerings, Robin C. Feldman, Evan Frondorf
Robin C Feldman
Quantitative analysis of patent behavior is critical, as congressional and regulatory agencies consider the impact of patent trolling on modern markets. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that “non-practicing entities,” also known as “patent trolls,” specifically target companies for lawsuits, licensing demands, or other monetization activity as firms approach or complete major funding events, such as their initial public offering (IPO). To test this narrative, we survey in-house legal staff at companies that have recently gone public about their exposure to patent demands surrounding their first round of venture capital funding and their IPO. The study is one of the first attempts …
Do Patent Licensing Demands Mean Innovation?, Robin C. Feldman, Mark A. Lemley
Do Patent Licensing Demands Mean Innovation?, Robin C. Feldman, Mark A. Lemley
Robin C Feldman
A commonly offered justification for patent trolls or non-practicing entities (NPEs) is that they serve as a middleman, facilitating innovation and bringing new technology from inventors to those who can implement it. We survey those involved in patent licensing to see how often patent license demands actually led to innovation or technology transfer. We find that very few patent license demands actually lead to new innovation; most simply involve payment for the freedom to keep doing what the licensee was already doing. Surprisingly, this is true not only of NPE licenses but even of licenses from product-producing companies and universities. …
Patent Demands & Startup Companies: The View From The Venture Capital Community, Robin C. Feldman
Patent Demands & Startup Companies: The View From The Venture Capital Community, Robin C. Feldman
Robin C Feldman
This paper presents a study of patent demands against venture-backed startups, conducted through members of the National Venture Capital Association and their portfolio companies. The results of surveying 200 venture capitalists and their portfolio companies provide strong indications of the impact that patent demands are having on the venture-backed community. Both the companies and the venture capitalists overwhelming believe that patent demands have a negative impact on the venture-backed community, with all or most of those assertions coming from entities whose core activity involves licensing or litigating patents. These impacts are described in terms of the specific costs expended by …