Non-practicing entities in Europe: an empirical analysis of patent acquisitions at the European Patent Office

IF 2.8 4区管理学 Q2 BUSINESS

Industrial and Corporate Change Pub Date : 2024-03-22 DOI:10.1093/icc/dtae010

Valerio Sterzi, Cecilia Maronero, Gianluca Orsatti, Andrea Vezzulli

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Abstract

This paper delves into the proliferation of non-practicing entities (NPEs), a hot topic in academia and public policy, especially in the United States. The common belief is that Europe is less exposed to NPEs due to a robust patent system, higher enforcement costs, and smaller damage awards. Yet, using a new database of NPE patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO), the study uncovers that NPEs activity in Europe is arising: they own nearly 20,000 EPO patents, primarily in Electrical Engineering. Moreover, we contribute the literature investigating the heterogeneity of the NPE business model and its relationship with the characteristics and use of the patents they target. Our econometric analysis provides threefold original evidence. First, NPEs with higher propensity for litigation (i.e., “Litigation” NPEs) acquire patents with higher infringement risk but similar technological quality than practicing entities. Second, patent aggregators (i.e., “Portfolio” NPEs) and technology companies (i.e., “Technology” NPEs) acquire higher-quality patents compared to those acquired by practicing entities. Third, patent acquisitions by “Litigation” NPEs and “Portfolio” NPEs reduce the subsequent use of protected technologies.

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欧洲的非执业实体：对欧洲专利局专利收购的实证分析

本文深入探讨了非执业实体（NPEs）的扩散问题，这是学术界和公共政策领域的一个热门话题，尤其是在美国。人们普遍认为，欧洲由于专利制度健全、执法成本较高以及损害赔偿额较小，因此较少受到非执业实体的影响。然而，本研究利用欧洲专利局（EPO）的一个新的非专利代理人专利申请数据库，发现非专利代理人在欧洲的活动正在兴起：他们拥有近 20,000 项欧洲专利局专利，主要集中在电气工程领域。此外，我们还对研究 NPE 商业模式的异质性及其与目标专利的特征和使用之间的关系的文献做出了贡献。我们的计量经济学分析提供了三方面的原始证据。首先，具有较高诉讼倾向的 NPE（即 "诉讼型 "NPE）获得的专利具有较高的侵权风险，但其技术质量与执业实体类似。其次，专利聚合者（即 "专利组合 "NPEs）和技术公司（即 "技术 "NPEs）获得的专利质量高于执业实体获得的专利。第三，"诉讼型 "非专利实体和 "组合型 "非专利实体获取的专利会减少受保护技术的后续使用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Industrial and Corporate Change Multiple-

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

4.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The journal covers the following: the internal structures of firms; the history of technologies; the evolution of industries; the nature of competition; the decision rules and strategies; the relationship between firms" characteristics and the institutional environment; the sociology of management and of the workforce; the performance of industries over time; the labour process and the organization of production; the relationship between, and boundaries of, organizations and markets; the nature of the learning process underlying technological and organizational change.