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Stable sharing rules and participation in pools of essential patents

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  • Tesoriere, Antonio

Abstract

For pools of essential patents I study whether a pool's sharing rule is stable against arbitrage, so that the pool's members have no incentive to trade patents. I show that the only stable rule is the numeric proportional rule, which gives each member a share of the pool's profit equal to its share of the pool's patents. I study how the stable rule affects firms' incentives to participate, and I show that firms with few patents tend to remain outside the pool. I look at the trade off between stability and participation, and I show that as trade dilutes their shares, members prefer the stable rule. I consider individual licenses, stand-alone patents, integration, and R&D. The results suggest that pools use the stable rule to maximize their founding members' worth. They help us understand why the numeric proportional rule is so common among pools of essential patents.

Suggested Citation

  • Tesoriere, Antonio, 2019. "Stable sharing rules and participation in pools of essential patents," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 40-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:117:y:2019:i:c:p:40-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2019.06.002
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    3. Gastón Llanes & Joaquín Poblete, 2020. "Technology Choice and Coalition Formation in Standards Wars," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 270-297, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Patent pools; Sharing rules; Arbitrage; Pool formation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C73 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D45 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Rationing; Licensing
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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