This article investigates the interplay between formal standards, essential patents and informal industry alliances such as consortia and patent pools. Building upon more than 6.200 declarations of essential patents to major international Standard Development Organizations (SDO), we investigate...

The development of formal ICT standards is a loose form of collaborative innovation: firms first develop rival technologies, some of which are then eventually selected in the standard. Against this background, firms often use informal consortia to define a clearer technology roadmap ahead of the...