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File name: SSRN-id2267467. ; Size: 225K
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Patent Thickets, Trolls and Unproductive Entrepreneurship
John L. Turner
University of Georgia - C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business - Department of Economics
May 2013
Abstract:
I introduce and analyze an equilibrium model of invention, patenting and infringement under monopolistic competition. Profitable use of inventions requires adaptation to complementary technologies. With patents, a thicket of conflicting rights emerges and costly infringements occur. This taxes invention and lowers welfare. When an inventor may be a "troll"- patent without inventing - the rate of invention falls further. Intuitively, some trolls would invent if it were impossible to be a troll. More technology is patented with trolls, so the thicket grows and welfare falls. Being a troll is unprofitable unless a critical mass of inventions, made by other firms, exists.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 31
Keywords: litigation, patents, thickets, trolls, discovery
JEL Classification: K2, L2, O3
working papers series
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Date posted: August 25, 2011
; Last revised: May 20, 2013
Suggested CitationTurner, John L., Patent Thickets, Trolls and Unproductive Entrepreneurship (May 2013). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1916798 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1916798
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