Report of the Expert Group on patent aggregation

This report was produced by the expert group on patent aggregation. This group was convened by the European Commission to investigate whether there is a need for EU level intervention to foster the development of patent markets, in particular through aggregation of patents, with a focus on patent pools and funds. The work of the expert group builds on the publication of the Commission staff working document 'Towards enhanced patent valorisation for growth and jobs', the outcome of reflections of an earlier expert group on options for patent valorisation, as well as on a number of recent specific studies. The premise is that some patents would be more valuable, or would be more likely to be used, if they were aggregated, that is, if patents belonging to different owners were gathered together in such a way that single entities or groups could act as licensors of all the patents, or of as many of them as licensees might want to obtain licences for.