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Patent Auctions, Michael B. Abramowicz
Patent Auctions, Michael B. Abramowicz
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
In his famous paper advancing a prospect theory of patents, Edmund Kitch found inspiration in, but quickly dismissed, a footnote authored by Yoram Barzel suggesting that rights to inventions might be distributed through an auction mechanism. Kitch maintained that the patent system itself achieves the benefit of an auction by giving control over the inventive process at a relatively early stage. The patent system, moreover, avoids the need for governmental officials in an auction regime to define the boundaries of inventions that have not yet been created.
Patent auctions, however, may be more appealing if the auctions are for rights …