Patent thicket
A patent thicket is "a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology,"[1] or, in other words, "“an overlapping set of patent rights” which require innovators to reach licensing deals for multiple patents from multiple sources."[2]
The expression may come from SCM Corp. v. Xerox Corp. patent litigation case in the 1970s, wherein SCM's central charge had been that Xerox constructed a "patent thicket" to prevent competition.[3]
Patent thickets are used to defend against competitors designing around a single patent.[4] It has been suggested by some that this is particularly true in fields such as software or pharmaceuticals, but Sir Robin Jacob has pointed out that "every patentee of a major invention is likely to come up with improvements and alleged improvements to his invention" and that "it is in the nature of the patent system itself that [patent thickets] should happen and it has always happened".[5]
Patent thickets are also sometimes called "patent floods",[6] or "patent clusters".[7] According to a report by Professor Ian Hargreaves, published in May 2011, patent thickets "obstruct entry to some markets and so impede innovation."[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Shapiro, Carl (2001). "Navigating the Patent Thicket: Cross Licenses, Patent Pools, and Standard-Setting". In Jaffe, Adam B.; et al.. Innovation Policy and the Economy. I. Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 119–150. ISBN 0262600412. http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/shapiro/thicket.pdf.
- ^ Digital Opportunity, A review of Intellectual Property and Growth, An independent report by Ian Hargreaves, May 2011, page 18.
- ^ Donald Paneth, News Dictionary, 1978, Published 1979, Facts On File, Inc., pa. 9, ISBN 0871961075
- ^ Rubinfeld, Daniel L.; Maness, Robert (2005). "The Strategic Use of Patents: Implications for Antitrust". In Leveque, Francois; Shelanski, Howard. Antitrust, Patents and Copyright: EU and US Perspectives. Northampton: Edward Elgar. pp. 85–102. ISBN 1845426037. http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/rubinfeldd/Profile/publications/Strategic_Use_of_Patents.pdf.
- ^ "Patents and Pharmaceuticals", a paper given on 29 November 2008 at the Presentation of the Directorate-General of Competition’s Preliminary Report of the Pharma-sector inquiry, by the Rt. Hon. Sir Robin Jacob
- ^ Ganslandt, Mattias (2008). "Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Policy". IFN Working Paper No. 726: 12. http://www.ifn.se/Wfiles/wp/wp726.pdf. "...multiplicity of patents, referred to as ‘patent thickets’ and ‘patent floods’..." Also in Maskus, Keith E., ed. (2009). Intellectual Property, Growth and Trade. Frontiers of Economics and Globalization. 2. Emerald Group. pp. 233–261. ISBN 978-0-444-52764-6.
- ^ European Commission (28 November 2008). "Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry: Preliminary Report". DG Competition Staff Working Paper: 9. http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors/pharmaceuticals/inquiry/preliminary_report.pdf. "One commonly applied strategy is filing numerous patents for the same medicine (forming so called ‘patent clusters’ or ‘patent thickets’)"
- ^ Digital Opportunity, A review of Intellectual Property and Growth, An independent report by Ian Hargreaves, May 2011, page 5.
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