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Non-practicing entities and transparency of patent ownership in Europe: the case of UK dormant companies

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  • Valerio Sterzi

    (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jean Paul Rameshkoumar

    (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Johannes van Der Pol

    (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

While various studies in the fields of law and economics have analysed the business models of patent aggregators and large non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the US, small NPEs operating in Europe typically escape academic and media attention. Here, to address this imbalance, we specifically identify and characterize the patent portfolios of NPEs registered as dormant companies in the UK and investigate whether they are created for the purpose of acquiring valuable IP assets or launching litigation campaigns. Our econometric analysis – based on more than two hundred NPEs registered as dormant companies in 2019 – supports the second hypothesis. Finally, as an illustrative example of how small NPEs use UK dormant companies to acquire and litigate patents in Europe, we describe the business model of Dragon Green Development Balboa SA, an entity incorporated in the Republic of Panama that controls thirteen UK dormant companies and which is involved in fourteen patent litigation cases in Germany. © 2021

Suggested Citation

  • Valerio Sterzi & Jean Paul Rameshkoumar & Johannes van Der Pol, 2021. "Non-practicing entities and transparency of patent ownership in Europe: the case of UK dormant companies," Post-Print hal-03432871, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03432871
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121069
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03432871
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    1. Grazia Sveva Ascione & Laura Ciucci & Claudio Detotto & Valerio Sterzi, 2022. "Universities involvement in patent litigation: an analysis of the characteristics of US litigated patents," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 6855-6879, December.
    2. Valerio Sterzi & Cecilia Maronero & Gianluca Orsatti & Andrea Vezzulli, 2024. "Non-practicing entities in Europe: an empirical analysis of patent acquisitions at the European Patent Office," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 33(5), pages 1271-1297.
    3. Ascione, Grazia Sveva & Ciucci, Laura & Detotto, Claudio & Sterzi, Valerio, 2024. "University patent litigation in the United States: Do we have a problem?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Balboa; Business Models; Dormant Company; Economics; Laws And Legislation; Media Attention; Non-Practicing Entity; Patent Assertion Entity; Patent Litigation; Patent Ownership; Patent Portfolio; Patent Transparency; Patent Trolls; Patents And Inventions; Transparency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights

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