Mind the Gap: Economic Costs and Innovation Perils in the Space between Patent and Competition Law

43 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2013 Last revised: 29 Mar 2013

See all articles by George Addy

George Addy

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Erika Douglas

Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg LLP

Date Written: July 1, 2012

Abstract

This article considers a gap between patent law and competition law that is being profitably exploited by "patent trolls", firms whose business is the acquisition and assertion of patents against parties who are already using the patented technology. First, we frame the discussion by considering the interaction of competition law and patent law and how the interaction can, in theory, impact innovation. Then we look at the example of patent trolls and how they are taking advantage of an absence of competition or patent law enforcement: what they are, the reasons for their recent emergence and the main arguments in defence of patent trolling. Next, we examine the economic cost and harm to innovation caused by patent trolls as they relate to wider issues in competition and patent law and policy, including asymmetry of litigation risk, the hold-up problem and the growing valuation of patents based on the right to exclude rather than the economic value of the underlying invention. Finally, we survey the efforts to stem patent abuse, including patent trolling, through market, judicial, legislative and regulatory means. Regardless of the source of the solution, be it patent or competition, law or policy, patent trolling highlights a clear need for reform to achieve the innovation goals of both the competition and patent regimes. Law makers, enforcement agencies, regulators and the courts need to bridge the ever-widening gap.

Keywords: patent, competition, innovation, trolls, litigation, litigation cost, non-practicing entities, patent notice, hold-up

JEL Classification: O31, O34, F010

Suggested Citation

Addy, George and Douglas, Erika, Mind the Gap: Economic Costs and Innovation Perils in the Space between Patent and Competition Law (July 1, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2208654 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2208654

George Addy

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP ( email )

Toronto, Ontario M5X 1B1
Canada

Erika Douglas (Contact Author)

Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg LLP ( email )

155 Wellington Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3J7
Canada

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