Intellectual Property Clearinghouses: The E¤ects of Reduced Transaction Costs in Licensing
نویسنده
چکیده
We focus on downstream uses that combine multiple intellectual property rights and examine the e¤ects of introducing an intellectual property clearinghouse. We identify the two sometimes conicting function of clearinhouses: transaction costs reduction and coordination. We show that reduction in transaction costs causes licensors to increase royalties in some cases and makes them worse o¤ due to the tragedy of the anticommons. Downstream welfare e¤ects may also be positive or negative and we characterize the e¤ects on downstream manufacturers and nal consumers. We also show that total welfare is most likely to increase following a transaction cost reduction when the number of intellectual property rights per downstream use is small, or if rights are relatively substitutable in downstream use, but it is also possible for welfare to decrease. JEL: L24, O34. Keywords: Intellectual property, licensing, tragedy of the anticommons, clearinghouses. We thank Sadao Nagaoka and participants at the Hitotsubashi Innovation Forum for helpful comments, and we thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for nancial support.
منابع مشابه
Intellectual property clearinghouses: The effects of reduced transaction costs in licensing
We focus on downstream uses that combine multiple intellectual property rights and examine the e¤ects of introducing an intellectual property clearinghouse that reduces transaction costs associated with licensing. We show that this causes equilibrium royalties to rise in some cases and may harm licensors because clearinghouse by itself does not eliminate the tragedy of the anticommons. Downst...
متن کاملCollective Rights Organizations and Upstream R&D Investment
We examine the e¤ect of collective rights organizations (CROs) on upstream innovation. CROs are established to facilitate downstream use, such as production and downstream innovation, of upstream intellectual property, We consider two simple royalty redistribution schemes, two di¤erent innovation environments and two di¤erent antitrust rules. We show that in most cases CROs increase upstream R&...
متن کاملContractually constructed research commons: a critical economic appraisal
In the last decade there has been a growing and high pitched debate about the expansion of exclusionary and proprietary strategies (intellectual property rights and sui generis regimes, restrictive licensing etc.) for the appropriation of the value of knowledge and information resources. The main point of contention has centered on the justification for the adoption of these strategies and how ...
متن کاملNo . 06 - 12 Licensing Strategies of the Entreprising – But Vulnerable – “ Intellectual property ” Vendors
This paper investigates in an exploratory manner the licensing strategies pursued by firms whose business model is based on developing and licensing out their intellectual property rights (IPRs). These are not traditional suppliers, since they do not engage in production or commercialization, but focus solely on invention. While considerable anecdotal evidence exists about these IP vendors, the...
متن کامل