This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of patent law’s “pioneer invention doctrine” in almost two decades. Since the early 1990s, patent scholars have unanimously reported that case law favoring so-called “pioneer” patents – i.e., those disclosing the most...

This essay criticizes university efforts to patent and monetize the fruits of university research. The piece explains that university tech transfer resembles a government-subsidized game of roulette, in which the vast majority of players lose money but continue to play in hopes of hitting an...

We analyze the extent to which private defensive litigation insurance deters patent assertion by non-practicing entities (NPEs). We study the effect that a patent-specific defensive insurance product, offered by a leading litigation insurer, had on the litigation behavior of insured patents'...

On the heels of a widely reported uptick in egregious patent enforcement, six patent reform bills have been introduced in the last six months. All six bills aim to curb nuisance-value patent litigation, a phenomenon popularly referred to as “patent trolling,” by reducing the cost of...

The theory of patent “hold-out” posits that frictions in the market for licensing standard-essential patents (SEPs) provide incentive for prospective licensees to opportunistically delay taking licenses. We derive empirically testable predictions from the literature supporting hold-out...

We analyze the extent to which private defensive litigation insurance deters patent assertion by non-practicing entities (NPEs). We study the effect that a patent-specific defensive insurance product, offered by a leading litigation insurer, had on the litigation behavior of insured patents’...

The duration of a given patent's life is a factor of two variables: first, the maximum term of protection afforded by law, and second, its owner's willingness and ability to comply with periodic renewal obligations. This chapter reviews the theoretical and empirical literature related to both

Despite the pervasiveness of patent licensing in many industries, there is a dearth of publicly available information on licensing transactions. Notably, information on price–i.e., the royalty agreed upon by licensor and licensee–is purposefully kept secret. We assess to what extent...

We analyze the extent to which private defensive litigation insurance deters patent assertion by non-practicing entities (NPEs). We study the effect that a patent-specific defensive insurance product,offered by a leading litigation insurer, had on the litigation behavior of insured patents'...