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The Private and Social Costs of Patent TrollsJames E. BessenBoston University - School of Law; Research on Innovation Michael J. MeurerBoston University - School of Law Jennifer Laurissa Fordaffiliation not provided to SSRN September 19, 2011 Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 11-45 Abstract: In the past, non-practicing entities (NPEs) - firms that license patents without producing goods - have facilitated technology markets and increased rents for small inventors. Is this also true for today’s NPEs? Or are they “patent trolls” who opportunistically litigate over software patents with unpredictable boundaries? Using stock market event studies around patent lawsuit filings, we find that NPE lawsuits are associated with half a trillion dollars of lost wealth to defendants from 1990 through 2010, mostly from technology companies. Moreover, very little of this loss represents a transfer to small inventors. Instead, it implies reduced innovation incentives.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 35 Keywords: patent, litigation, litigation cost, non-practicing entities, software patents JEL Classification: O31, O34, K41 working papers seriesDate posted: September 19, 2011 ; Last revised: September 30, 2012Suggested CitationContact Information
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