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How Antitrust Enforcement Can Spur Innovation: Bell Labs and the 1956 Consent Decree

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  • Martin Watzinger
  • Thomas Fackler
  • Markus Nagler
  • Monika Schnitzer

Abstract

We study the 1956 consent decree against the Bell System to investigate whether patents held by a dominant firm are harmful for innovation and if so, whether compulsory licensing can provide an effective remedy. The consent decree settled an antitrust lawsuit that charged Bell with having foreclosed the market for telecommunications equipment. The decree forced Bell to license all its existing patents royalty-free. The compulsory licensing increased follow-on innovation building on Bell patents by 17%. This effect is driven mainly by young and small companies. Yet, innovation increased only outside the telecommunications equipment industry, suggesting that compulsory licensing without structural remedies is ineffective in ending market foreclosure.

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  • Martin Watzinger & Thomas Fackler & Markus Nagler & Monika Schnitzer, 2017. "How Antitrust Enforcement Can Spur Innovation: Bell Labs and the 1956 Consent Decree," CESifo Working Paper Series 6351, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6351
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    9. Ashish Arora & Sharon Belenzon & Andrea Patacconi & Jungkyu Suh, 2020. "The Changing Structure of American Innovation: Some Cautionary Remarks for Economic Growth," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(1), pages 39-93.
    10. Gaessler, Fabian & Harhoff, Dietmar & Sorg, Stefan, 2019. "Bargaining Failure and Freedom to Operate: Re-evaluating the Effect of Patents on Cumulative Innovation," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 220, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    11. Robin Mamrak, 2023. "Antitrust and (Foreign) Innovation: Evidence from the Xerox Case," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 396, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    12. Naudé, Wim & Nagler, Paula, 2017. "Technological Innovation and Inclusive Growth in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 11194, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Ajay Bhaskarabhatla & Yiting Deng & Yongdong Liu, 2024. "Open disclosure using invention pledges: a case study of IBM," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1532-1566, August.
    14. Poege, Felix, 2022. "Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben," IZA Discussion Papers 15517, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Kovács, Olivér, 2020. "Gazellák az iparpolitika tükrében, I [Gazelles and industrial policy, Part 1]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 54-87.
    16. Carl Benedikt Frey & Giorgio Presidente, 2024. "Privacy regulation and firm performance: Estimating the GDPR effect globally," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(3), pages 1074-1089, July.
    17. Michael Klein & Yibai Yang, 2024. "Blocking Patents, Rent Protection and Economic Growth"," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 52, pages 1-20, April.
    18. Po-Hsuan Hsu & Hsiao-Hui Lee & Tong Zhou, 2022. "Patent Thickets, Stock Returns, and Conditional CAPM," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 8343-8367, November.
    19. Valentiny, Pál, 2024. "Mennyire innovatívak a Big Tech vállalatok? [How innovative are Big Tech companies?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 22-56.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    innovation; antitrust; intellectual property; compulsory licensing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General

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