Changes

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Strategic Value},

thicket_def_extract={Such an intellectual property portfolio can thus act as a ‘patent thicket’ (Shapiro, 2000), making it more difficult for collaborative partners to expropriate the innovating firm’s technology.},

filename={Aggarwal Hsu (2009) - Modes Of Cooperative R And D Commercialization By Start Ups.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Quotes Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={Carl Shapiro has called “a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology.”},

filename={Allison Tiller (2003) - The Business Method Patent Myth.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Diversely-held Complementary Inputs, Strategic Value},

thicket_def_extract={Economist Carl Shapiro elaborates on the problems created by a ‘patent thicket’. Using traditional economic analysis, he has shown how, when several monopolists exist that each control a different raw material needed for development of a product, the price of the resulting product is higher than if a single firm controlled trade in all of the raw materials or made the product itself. However, the combined profits of the producers are lower in the presence of complementary monopolies. So, if there are several patent holders whose permission is needed to create a gene therapy (and any one of them could block the production of the gene therapy), inefficiencies in the market are created, potentially harming both the patent holder and the patent users.},

filename={Andrews (2002) - Genes And Patent Policy Rethinking Intellectual Property Rights.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={In the context of patents, a proliferation of IP rights may result in a ‘patent thicket’ (Shapiro, 2001) that can increase costs for downstream activities such as cumulative innovation and the development of new products that combine multiple existing innovations.},

filename={Aoki Schiff (2008) - Promoting Access To Intellectual Property.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Quotes Shapiro, References Heller/Eisenberg},

thicket_def_extract={This has been called a patent thicket, or a “dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology” (Shapiro, in press).},

filename={Arundel Patel (2003) - Strategic Patenting.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Based on Infringement},

thicket_def_extract={Correa is correct that the quality of patent examination is scandalous. Even in Europe or North America, many dubious patents are issued. The resulting lack of legal certainty harms everyone: competitors who must spend heavily to overturn wronly granted patents; consumers who pay a premium while those patents remain in force; and even companies and their shareholders, as happened when an invalid Prozac patent was finally overtruned, wiping US $35 billion off Feli Lilly's market capitalization.},

filename={Attaran (2004) - Patents Do Not Strangle Innovation But Their Quality Must Be Improved.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Multiple Overlapping Patents},

thicket_def_extract={A particularly disconcerting result of the increase in the number of patents is the emergence of patent thickets: multiple patents that cover a single product or technology.},

filename={Ayres Parchomovsky (2007) - Tradable Patent Rights.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={Much has been made about the nanotech patent "land grab," where inventors rush to patent huge swaths of claim space, while the PTO - allegedly with little knowledge of nanotechnology and no dedicated examining group - grants very broad and overlapping claims. 16 Moreover, the interdisciplinary nature of nanotechnology may allow two patents that use different language to claim the same nanotech product. For example, one patent might cover silicon nanocrystals with an average diameter between 1nm and 30nm, while another could cover any nanocrystal that emits light in a spectral range no greater than 60 nm. Such patents could overlap and create mutually blocking rights.17 While there is nothing in the patent law to prohibit new and nonobvious claims from overlapping (i.e., claims in different patents which cover the same product and which are new and not obvious over the prior art),18 the commentators expressed concern that the allowed claims in some patents may be obvious over the prior art. In Kumar,however, the PTO found the prior art and rejected those claims that it considered to be obvious in light of those references.},

thicket_def_extract={For example, a claim in a later patent may cover a new and nonobvious improvement on a basic invention claimed in an earlier patent. In this case, both patents would properly cover the improved product. A large number of patents containing overlapping claims which cover the same product are often referred to as a "patent thicket."},

tags={Industry Commentary, Sequential Innovation},

filename={Baluch Radomsky Maebius (2005) - In Re Kumar The First Nanotech Patent Case In The Federal Circuit.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={One aspect of this patent proliferation is the « patent thicket » problem 5. The patent thicket describes a situation in which holders of different patents that are all necessary for complying with a standard mutually block each other in the implementation of the standard.},

thicket_def_extract={The creator of this term defines the patent thicket as « a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology. » (Shapiro, 2001)..},

filename={Baron Delcamp (2010) - Strategic Inputs Into Patent Pools.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Policy makers and industry participants have come to take a positive stance on patent pools, as pools play an important role in leveling the playing field for competition on the downstream production market, reducing transaction costs and encouraging the spread of innovative technology throughout the industry. In view of these benefits, patent pools are seen as indispensable instruments in cutting through the patent thickets in ICT. Indeed, by clearing blocking positions and facilitating access to the technology, patent pools help attenuating the negative downstream effects of patent thickets. On the other hand, as our analysis has pointed out, there is a risk that these positive downstream effects are offset by the fact that patent pools create incentives to exacerbate some of the worrying upstream effects of patent thickets. Indeed, one of the harmful effects of patent thickets is to induce socially wasteful excess investment in patent races and opportunistic patent files, deviating resources away from innovation to rent seeking strategies.},

thicket_def_extract={Patent pools are seen as a potential solution to inefficiencies resulting from dense “thickets” of overlapping patents (Shapiro, 2001).},

filename={Baron Pohlmann (2011) - Patent Pools And Patent Inflation.pdf}

}

thicket_stance_extract={A fall out of such broad claims has been patenting of inventions bordering closely on discoveries (unpatentable subject matter), and patents on basic inventions or building block patents. When holders of such broad patents refuse to license their patents or license these on exclusive basis or at prohibitive prices or with restrictive conditions, it leads to the growth of patent thickets impeding downstream research in nanotechnology. The existence of a high number of such patents with broad and sometimes, overlapping claims adds to the problem of thickets and leads to the fragementation of the patent landscape.},

thicket_def={Multiple Overlapping Blocking Patents, Broad Patents},

filename={Barpujari (2010) - The Patent Regime And Nanotechnology Issues And Challenges.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Barton (2002) - Antitrust Treatment Of Oligopolies With Mutually Blocking Patent Portfolios.pdf}

}

discipline={Econ, Law},

research_type={Discussion},

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={A complex piece of equipment, such as a computer, charactersitically is made up of components each of which is covered by a surprisingly large number of patents and the patents pertinent for such an item are often owned by a considerable number of different firms, many of them direct competitors in the final-product market...This puts many of these firms in a legal position that can enable each to bring the manu- facturing process of the others to a halt. The most effective way to prevent the catastrophic conse- quences this threatens for each of them is the for- mation of a patent pool in which each makes use of its patents available to the other members of the pool, and even to outsiders (as a step to avoid intervention by the anti-monopoly authorities},

thicket_def_extract={Similar perils for the public interest arise in the last of the reasons for voluntary technology sharing - the problem of "patent thickets" and the widespread patent pools that have been formed to deal with the thicket problem. A complex piece of equipment, such as a computer, characteristically is made up of components each of which is covered by a surprisingly large number of patents, and the patents pertinent for such an item are often owned by a considerable number of different firms, many of them direct competitors in the final-product market. For example, Peter N. Detkin, vice president and assistant general counsel at Intel Corporation, estimates that there were more than 90,000 patents generally related to microprocessors held by more than 10,000 parties in 2002 (Federal Trade Commission, 2002, p. 667). This puts many of these firms in a legal position that can enable each to bring the manufacturing process of the others to a halt. The most effective way to prevent the catastrophic consequences this threatens for each of them is the formation of a patent pool in which each makes use of its patents available to the other members of the pool, and even to outsiders (as a step to avoid intervention by the anti-monopoly authorities...},

filename={Baumol (2004) - Entrepreneurial Enterprises Large Established Firms And Other Components.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Such patent proliferation of broad patents could ultimately result in 'patent thickets' that will require patent litigation to sort out, especially if areas of nanotechnology become financially lucrative. Given such a patent ladnscape for nanotechnology, expensive patent litigation is inevitable, with patent owners commanding some leverage with which to avoid a self-destructive patent war. The end result of all this is too familiar to the business and patent communities: (1) higher costs to consumers if and when products are commercialized; and (2) a drag on the innovation process itself.},

thicket_def_extract={Patent thickets are broadly defined in academic discourse as “a ‘dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology.’” Richard Raysman & Peter Brown, Patent Cross-Licensing in the Computer and Software Industry, 233 N.Y. L. J., Jan. 11, 2005, at 3, 6 (quoting Carl Shapiro, Navigating the Patent Thicket: Cross-Licenses, Patent Pools, and Standard Settings, in 1 INNOVATION POLICY AND THE ECONOMY 119, 120 (Adam Jaffe et al. eds., 2001)). Such patent thickets, a result of multiple blocking patents, naturally discourage and stifle innovation and “[c]laims in such patent thickets have been characterized as ‘often broad, overlapping and conflicting . . . ’”). },

filename={Bawa Bawa Maebius (2005) - The Nanotechnology Patent Gold Rush.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Given such a patent landscape, expensive litigation is as inevitable as it was with the biotechnology industry, where extensive patent litigation resulted once the products became commercially successful. In most of the patent battles the larger entity with the deeper pocket s will rule the day even if the brightest stars and innovators are on the other side. ... Ultimately, this situation is all too familiar to the business and patent communities, in that it leads to higher costs to consumers, if and when products are commercialized [5], as well as deter ring the innovation process itself},

thicket_def_extract={Patent thickets are broadly defined in academic discourse as "a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology". Such patent thickets, as a result of multiple blocking patents, are considered to discourage and stifle innovation. Claims in such patent thickets have been characterized as boften broad, overlapping and conflicting — a scenario ripe for massive patent litigation battles in the future...},

filename={Bawa (2005) - Will The Nanomedicine Patent Land Grab Thwart Commercialization.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Quotes Shapiro, Multiple Blocking Patents, Broad Patents},

thicket_def_extract={Patent thickets are broadly defined in academic discourse as "a 'dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology.'"... Such patent thickets, a result of multiple blocking patents, naturally discourage and stifle innovation...},

filename={Bawa (2007) - Nanotechnology Patent Proliferation And The Crisis At The Us Patent Office.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The patent thicket problem can be severe in certain technologically dynamic industries. Consider, for example, the semiconductor industry. In that industry, there reportedly are already over 250,000 patents in existence that, in principle, a new innovation potentially could infringe. In addition, there are several thousand additional patent applications typically in the process of review.' 4 As a result of these extant and forthcoming patents, it is virtually impossible for a firm to know, ex ante, whether a given microprocessor innovation will infringe a patent held by another firm. The patent thicket associated with this industry, then, is quite formidable, and it creates considerable uncertainty regarding the future legal status of any intellectual property created by R&D activities.},

thicket_def_extract={Where a highly complex product or process is covered by numerous interrelated patents, any holder of a patent that applies to that product or process potentially may block production and/or impede further technological developments, thereby jeopardizing the returns on other parties' prior investments. In such situations (i.e., where a given product is potentially affected by numerous patents owned by a number of different parties), the resulting uncertainty regarding unforeseen patent claims can dampen firms' incentives to invest in R&D activities. This potential for numerous interrelated patents to deter R&D investment has been called the patent thicket (or minefield) problem.},

filename={Beard Kaserman (2002) - Patent Thickets Cross Licensing And Antitrust.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={By blocking pathways to market and dampening investor interest in commercialization, a patent thicket has the potential to slow and skew the overall development of new technical applications.},

thicket_def_extract={Given the particular characteristics of stem cells as a broadly enabling technology, many expect the field to be particularly susceptible to the emergence of a patent thicket8–13, also known in property rights theory as an ‘anti- commons’14. In a patent thicket, the existence of many overlapping patent claims can cause uncertainty about freedom to operate, impose multiple layers of transaction costs and stack royalty payments beyond levels that can be supported by the value of single innovations.},

filename={Bergman Graff (2007) - The Global Stem Cell Patent Landscape.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={This paper argues that patent thickets can reduce R&D incentives even when there are no transaction costs, holdup or vertical monopoly problems.},

thicket_def_extract={The problem Baker describes is often called a “patent thicket.” These occur when each product may involve many patents, in contrast with the one-to-one correspondence between products and patents that is assumed in the patent race literature. Recent commentators suggest that lower patenting standards encourage patent thickets, creating difficulties for innovators (see Gallini, 2002, for a review). When innovators must negotiate with large numbers of patentholders, they may face excessive transaction costs (Heller and Eisenberg, 1998), “holdup,” and problems of vertical monopoly (Shapiro, 2001).},

filename={Bessen (2003) - Patent Thickets Strategic Patenting Of Complex Technologies.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Multiple Overlapping Blocking Patents, References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={These developments certainly do not encourage user-innovation, as users wanting to amend existing products or to create new ones must navigate the IPR thicket. This refers to an overlapping set of IPRs, which requires those seeking to commercialise new technologies to obtain licences (Shapiro, 2001). It exists in many industries, such as in semiconductors and biotechnology (Hall and Ziedonis, 2001; Heller and Eisenberg, 1998).},

filename={Braun Herstatt (2007) - Barriers To User Innovation.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Particularly in areas like the semiconductor industry, com- panies need some means for "clearing" the patent thicket, such as cross-licensing all the rights needed for their complex product},

thicket_def_extract={Closely related to the problem of complementarity is the problem of horizontal overlaps between patents.122 Patents are frequently broader than the products the inventors actually make. Multiple patents often cover the same ground, sometimes as an intentional result of the patent system"' and sometimes because patents regularly issue that are too broad or tread on the prior art.'24 Various parties may be able to lay claim to the same technologies or to aspects of the same technology. Carl Shapiro has termed this overlap of patent claims the "patent thicket"},

filename={Burk Lemley (2003) - Policy Levers In Patent Law.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Multiple Overlapping Blocking Patents},

thicket_def_extract={This network is defined a patent thicket (Shapiro, 2001). A patent thicket consists of a number of adjacent and overlapping property rights, which impose on whoever wishes to use certain intermediate goods to ask for licenses from several patent holders.},

filename={Calderini Giannaccari (2006) - Standardisation In The Ict Sector.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Callaway (2008) - Patent Incentives In The Semiconductor Industry.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={A prominent example of a patent thicket is the semiconductor industry, in which hundreds, if not thousands, of patents can read onto a single product. 208 The patents typically cover "aspects of the circuitry design, materials used to achieve a certain outcome, and the broad array of methods used to manufacture the device."20 9 Consequently, companies such as IBM, Intel, and Motorola "find it all too easy to unintentionally infringe on a patent in designing a microprocessor, potentially exposing themselves to billions of dollars of liability and/or an injunction forcing them to cease production of key products."210 This concern is especially relevant for firms that have made "costly and rapidly-depreciating investments in wafer fabrication facilities, which inherently utilize a 'thicket' of innovations developed by many parties."},

thicket_def_extract={Carl Shapiro has defined a patent thicket as "an overlapping set of patent rights requiring that those seeking to commercialize new technology obtain licenses from multiple patentees."20 3 Patent thickets have been associated most frequently with the semiconductor industry, but they also have been observed in the biotechnology, computer software, and Internet industries.},

filename={Carrier (2003) - Resolving The Patent Antitrust Paradox Through Tripartite Innovation.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Multiple Overlapping Blocking Patents},

thicket_def_extract={Intragenerational bottlenecks occur most frequently in the semiconductor industry and have also appeared in the biotechnology, computer software, and Internet industries.188 In such industries,there frequently arises a "patent thicket,"189 in which overlapping patent rights enable each patent holder with a patented input in the product to block the use of the product by all others},

filename={Carrier (2004) - Cabining Intellectual Property Through A Property Paradigm.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Diversely-held Complementary Inputs},

thicket_def_extract={Mark Lemley has shown that SSOs have concentrated “in precisely those industries where the unconstrained enforcement of patents could be most damaging to innovation,” namely, computer software, Internet, telecommunications, and semiconductors.89 In these industries, the presence of multiple patented inputs in products increases the risk of holdup. Just as ominous, the industries are marked by “cumulative innovation,” with one generation’s patented invention based on those of previous generations.90},

filename={Carrier (2002) - Why Antitrust Should Defer To The Intellectual Property Rules Of SSOs.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Carrier (2012) - A Roadmap To The Smartphone Patent Wars And Frand Licensing.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={The lack of rigorous scrutiny in the examination process- in conjunction with the recent explosion of patents granted- has led to a serious concern that the current patent system may impede, rather than promote, innovation by creating a "patent thicket"(Shapiro 2001; Gallini 2002; Bessen 2003).},

filename={Choi (2005) - Live And Let Live A Tale Of Weak Patents.pdf}

}

@incollection{cohen2008real,

author={Cohen, W.M. and Walsh, J.P.},

booktitle={Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 8},

thicket_def={References Heller/Eisenberg, References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={Though their focus is largely on commercial projects, Heller and Eisenberg (1998) and Shapiro (2000) suggest that the patenting of a broad range of research tools that researchers need to do their work has spawned "patent thickets" that may make the acquisition of licenses and other rights too burdensome to permit the pursuit of what should otherwise be scientifically and socially worthwhile research,(engendering a tragedy of the "anticommons" [Heller and Eisenberg 1998]).},

filename={Cohen Walsh (2008) - Real Impediments To Academic Biomedical Research.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Competition (2008) - Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Preliminary Report.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Strategic Value},

thicket_def_extract={In this regard, I present a definition of patent holdup as a type of opportunistic behavior on the part of patent owners that threatens to impose (1) static deadweight losses that are not justified by likely increases in dynamic efficiency, or (2) dynamic efficiency losses due to reduction in the incentive to participate in standard setting organizations or to engage in follow-up innovation.},

filename={Cotter (2008) - Patent Holdup Patent Remedies And Antitrust Responses.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Diversely-held Compelmentary Inputs, Strategic Value},

thicket_def_extract={Defensive and strategic patenting has for instance, in some sectors resulted in patent thickets, the consequences of which are generally undesirable in terms of creating too many, possibly overlapping patents, which can crowd a technological field and make it difficult and costly to navigate through.},

filename={Cowin (2007) - Policy Options For The Improvement Of The European Patent System.pdf}

}

@article{d2009pools,

thicket_def={Diversely-held Complementary Inputs},

thicket_def_extract={When multiple organisations each own individual patents that are collectively necessary for a particular technology, their competing intellectual property rights form a "patent thicket".},

filename={DSilva (2009) - Pools Thickets And Open Source Nanotechnology.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Multiple Overlapping Blocking Patents},

thicket_def_extract={More fundamentally still, the innumerable overlapping patents in certain high tech fields create an impenetrable "thicket" that frustrates quixotic conceptions of Coasian bargaining and acts only as an anticommons that paradoxically fore closes innovation. One's exclusion of another from his land is isolated; a single patentee's ability to enjoin production of a semiconductor chip that implicates thousands of patents creates powerful negative externalities. Given such distinctions, many view the worlds of patent law and traditional property as sufficiently distinct to be unworthy of direct analogy.},

filename={Devlin (2009) - Indeterminism And The Property Patent Equation.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Multiple Overlapping Blocking Patents, Based on Infringement, Broad Patents},

thicket_def_extract={A number of observers of patenting, particularly in the biological sciences, have suggested that patenting rules and overlapping claims have generated a "patent thicket" that has impeded innovation and made the R&D process more costly (Rai, 2001; Rai, 1999). Rai (2001) for example, argues that broad patents especially on upstream platform technologies represent a threat to competition and the cumulative process of innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry.},

filename={Dhar Foltz (2007) - The Impact Of Intellectual Property Rights In The Plant And Seed Industry.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={A second type of IP-based claim can occur when shared platforms rely on many different patented technologies, each of which has no obvious substitute. Firms may find themselves in a patent "thicket," in which several parties are able to derail a shared platform by threatening to withhold necessary contributions.12 Each firm can issue an ultimatum, demanding a large share of the platform's added value.},

thicket_def_extract={A second type of IP-based claim can occur when shared platforms rely on many different patented technologies, each of which has no obvious substitute. Firms may find themselves in a patent "thicket," in which several parties are able to derail a shared platform by threatening to withhold necessary contributions.12 Each firm can issue an ultimatum, demanding a large share of the platform's added value},

filename={Eisenmann (2008) - Managing Proprietary And Shared Platforms.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Eisenstein (2010) - Up For Grabs.pdf}

}

thicket_stance_extract={Questionable patents contribute to the patent thicket. In the context of a patent thicket, questionable patents can introduce new kinds of licensing difficulties, such as royalties stacked one on top of another, and can increase uncertainty about the patent landscape, thus complicating business planning... For example, a questionable patent that claims a single routine in a software program may be asserted to hold up production of the entire software program. This process can deter follow-on innovation and unjustifiably raise costs to businesses and, ultimately, to consumers.},

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Quotes Shapiro, Based on Infringement},

filename={FTC (2003) - To Promote Innovation.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Quotes Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={Indeed, IT products are often surrounded by “patent thickets” – densely overlapping patent rights held by multiple patent owners...},

filename={FTC (2011) - The Evolving IP Marketplace.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Neutral},

thicket_stance_extract={Scholars have used the term “patent thicket” to describe the problem of multiple overlapping rights that can hamper innovation by creating transaction barriers. Most scholars and those reporting from the field agree that large numbers of rights hamper research and innovation, particularly in the biotech field.21 One scholar, however, has challenged the notion.22 John Walsh argues that firms simply work around the problem of multiple rights for example, by moving offshore beyond the reach of the patent rights, inventing around the rights, and using public research tools.23 In particular, Walsh argues that academic researchers routinely ignore rights structures and that patent holders passively acquiesce.},

thicket_def_extract={Scholars have used the term “patent thicket” to describe the problem of multiple overlapping rights that can hamper innovation by creating transaction barriers. Most scholars and those reporting from the field agree that large numbers of rights hamper research and innovation, particularly in the biotech field.21 One scholar, however, has challenged the notion.22 John Walsh argues that firms simply work around the problem of multiple rights for example, by moving offshore beyond the reach of the patent rights, inventing around the rights, and using public research tools.23 In particular, Walsh argues that academic researchers routinely ignore rights structures and that patent holders passively acquiesce.},

filename={Feldman (2004) - The Open Source Biotechnology Movement Is It Patent Misuse.pdf}

}

thicket_stance_extract={If patent thickets exist, the concern is that they will substantially impair research and development because the tools of invention cannot flow freely through the research and development community.},

thicket_def={Multiple Overlapping Patents},

tags={Private Mchanisms, Open Source, Open Transfer, Open Access},

filename={Feldman Nelson (2008) - Open Source Open Access Open Transfer.pdf}

thicket_stance_extract={In particular, Shapiro (2001) has argued that a "patent thicket" has appeared that renders it difficult to commercialize a new technology. In some industries the number of intellectual property rights a firm requires to produce a new product is so large, and their ownership is so dispersed, that it is quite easy to unintentionally infringe on a patent. In this environment there is, therefore, a hold-up problem: when the manufacturer starts selling its product a patentee might show up threatening to shut production down unless it is paid high royalties.},

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

filename={Galasso (2007) - Broad Cross License Agreements And Persuasive Patent Litigation.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={To avoid legal suits, developers of these products entangled in a “patent thicket” 2 have had to negotiate with multiple patent owners, stacking up royalty obligations in the process, or abandon R&D on the innovation altogether.},

thicket_def_extract={A patent thicket arises when there are overlapping patent rights that must be identified and licensed in order for an innovator to bring a new product or technology to market (Shapiro, 2001)},

filename={Gallini (2011) - Private Agreements For Coordinating Patent Rights.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, References Heller/Eisenberg},

thicket_def_extract={In addition, the significant increase in the multiplicity of patents, referred to as “patent thickets” and “patent floods”, are considered by many to impede the ability of firms to conduct R&D activity effectively (Eisenberg 1989; Shapiro 2001)... A second issue relevant for sequential innovations is so-called “patent thickets”. In some industries, particularly biotechnology and information technologies, it is common that a new entrant, in order to engage in research or production, must obtain a large number of licenses from existing and previous innovators and producers. This problem raises the cost of product commercialization and may create substantial entry barriers for new firms.},

filename={Ganslandt (2009) - Intellectual Property Rights And Competition Policy.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Diversely-held Complementary Inputs},

thicket_def_extract={Medimmune has recently acquired exclusive licenses from the portfolios of Wisconsin, St. Jude, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine (“Technology for Faster, Safer Development of Pandemic Flu Vaccine Licensed by Mount School of Medicine” 2005; “MedImmune Expands Patent Estate for Reverse Genetics with New Rights from Mount Sinai School of Medicine” 2005). The IP rights situation described above was arguably a classical case of a patent thicket with fragmented IP rights and uncertainty about technology ownership},

filename={Gaule (2006) - Towards Patent Pools In Biotechnology.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Gilbert (2004) - Antitrust For Patent Pools A Century Of Policy Evolution.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Patent thickets are common to many high-technology industries in which the manufacture, use, or sale of a device or process may require rights to hundreds of patents.7 Overlapping patent rights raise numerous potential economic problems. Transaction costs of licensing can be high because licensees must identify, search out, and negotiate with numerous separate licensors. Litigation risks can be high because an incomplete portfolio of patent licenses can expose a firm to potentially large infringement damages.},

filename={Gilbert (2010) - Ties That Bind Policies To Promote Good Patent Pools.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Eisenberg},

thicket_def_extract={While many researchers, especially in academia, find ways around patent restrictions, and many companies have no trouble executing license agreements, there are cases where “patent thickets” have discouraged other researchers from pursuing similar or subsequent lines of inquiry.},

filename={Goozner (2006) - Innovation In Biomedicine.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Strategic Value, Diversely-held Complementary Inputs},

thicket_def_extract={During the U.S. Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice hearings on the patent system and antitrust policy in 2002, a number of industry representatives expressed concerns about the difficulty of negotiating the patent thicket in their area and the risk of being “held-up” ex post by a patent on a technology that was only a small component of their product.},

filename={Hall (2007) - Patents And Patent Policy.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={To forestall imitative activity and strengthen patent rights, firms often attempt to create a ‘patent thicket,’ i.e. obtaining patents not just on one central product or process, but on a host of related products or processes [11]. Firms that try to compete with the inventing firm will find their attempts to duplicate the central product or process blocked by the inventing firm’s grip on alternative technologies. Many of the firm’s patents on related products or processes may never be used or licensed; such ‘sleeping patents’ are held only to raise the costs of entry or imitation by potential rivals.},

thicket_def_extract={To forestall imitative activity and strengthen patent rights, firms often attempt to create a ‘patent thicket,’ i.e. obtaining patents not just on one central product or process, but on a host of related products or processes.},

filename={Hemphill (2003) - Preemptive Patenting Human Genomics And The Us Biotechnology Sector.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Heller/Eisenberg},

thicket_def_extract={Various commentators have proposed that a proliferation of patents poses a serious threat to biotechnology research by creating a patent thicket, sometimes referred to as a “patent anticommons.”106 The theory is especially associated with articles published by Heller and Eisenberg in 1998, and Eisenberg and Rai in 2002.107},

filename={Holman (2005) - Biotechnologys Prescription For Patent Reform.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weakly Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={Although upstream patents have been widely criticized, and there are a number of cases where specific patents clearly seem to have impeded innovation, there is little objective evidence to support a conclusion that patents constitute a widespread substantial obstacle to biomedical R&D, particularly in the academic sector.},

thicket_def_extract={Upstream patents have been criticized on a number of counts. For example, it has been proposed that the proliferation of patents covering research tools has resulted in a “patent thicket,” rendering it virtually impossible to conduct biomedical research without inadvertently infringing upon a host of conflicting patent claims (Heller and Eisenberg, 1998; Rai and Eisenberg, 2002)},

filename={Holman (2006) - Clearing A Path Through The Patent Thicket.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={However, for the most part, fears expressed concerning human gene patents have not been manifested overtly in patent litigation. Human gene patent litigation invariably has involved an alleged infringer engaged in substantial commercial activities focused specifically on the single gene that is the subject of the asserted patent, the antithesis of a patent thicket scenario (14). Some have speculated that DNA microarray technology is particularly at risk of becoming entangled in a thicket (6). However, I found no instance in which a human gene patent was asserted against the manufacturer or user of microarray technology, although microarray companies have experienced substantial patent litigation involving nongene patents since the mid-1990s.},

thicket_def_extract={Some have postulated that a “thicket” of patents will impede basic biomedical research and will stifle development and utilization of technologies that involve the use of multiple genetic sequences; DNA microarrays are a prime example (5, 6)},

filename={Holman (2008) - Trends In Human Gene Patent Litigation.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Holman (2012) - Debunking The Myth That Whole Genome Sequencing Infringes Thousands Of Gene Patents.pdf}

}

thicket_stance_extract={In addition, there has been enormous growth in the number of issued patents containing progressively narrower claims. Therefore, licences under multiple patents owned by multiple patent owners are required. In the absence of a patent pool, the transaction costs required to identify the blocking patents and conclude negotiations for a licence under each of them (assuming the patent owners are even willing to enter into licence negotiations), to say nothing of paying multiple royalties, are too costly for the average user – with the result that technological advancement, adoption and use are impeded; freedom of technological movement is restricted; the potential for conflict is increased; and traditional one-on-one licensing arrangements fall short.},

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

filename={Horn (2003) - Alternative Approaches To IP Management.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={The resulting complex network of single patents that bears many legal pitfalls for patent applicants was given the name ‘patent thicket’ (Shapiro, 2001). These developments put into question an increased number of patents motivated by an increased need for IP protection and hint at the strategic value of patents to have driven the patent surge.},

filename={Hussinger (2006) - Is Silence Golden Patents Versus Secrecy At The Firm Level.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={But how likely is it that a patent thicket for biological research will develop? According to the NIH working group on research tools, a thicket of research tool patents has already begun to form...The cumulative result of these actions is the initial formation of a patent thicket for research tools. The negative consequence of an extensive research tool patent thicket and its accompanying licensing scheme is the potential chilling effect on innovation.},

thicket_def_extract={Under this metaphor, a patent thicket arises when each block is granted separate yet concurrent exclusivity rights. The so-called thicket is the resulting nexus of concurrent and overlapping IP rights that one must navigate in order to practice any evolutionary form of science.},

filename={Iyama (2005) - The Usptos Proposal Of A Biological Research Tool Patent Pool Doesnt Hold Water.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Jacob (2009) - Patents And Pharmaceuticals.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={In general, a less rigorous examination is cheap to administer but induces uncertainty regarding the patent's validity and thus diminishes the power of patents to prevent imitation. This may have been alleged to give rise to unnecessary license fees, forgone research opportunities, and projects abandoned by competitors who unjustly fear infringement litigation.},

thicket_def_extract={The patent owner may do this by creating a thicket of pantents, so other parties are swamped with so much complex technical documentation that they cannot separate the chaff from the wheat. Developing patent thickets is relatively easy to do in this regime since the patent examination process is cursory.},

filename={Jensen Webster (2004) - Achieving The Optimal Power Of Patent Rights.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={In the field of economics, patent pools are analyzed by Shapiro (2000). He considers the role of patent pools in “patent thicket,” which means that there are so many patents issued that a single new patent will likely infringe on some other patents. This situation discourages and retards research, development and commercialization.},

filename={Kato (2004) - Patent Pool Enhances Market Competition.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Basic investigations conducted at universities and academic medical centers, usually publicly funded, often pro- duce key insights about the mecha- nisms underlying physiological function and disease states. Private corpora- tions can then commercialize these insights by designing and marketing new therapeutics or other medical tech- nologies based on them. In this chain of development, allowing patenting of each incremental innovation could risk generating a dense thicket of overlap- ping intellectual rights and thus hinder research efforts.},

thicket_def_extract={Basic investigations conducted at universities and academic medical centers, usually publicly funded, often pro- duce key insights about the mecha- nisms underlying physiological function and disease states. Private corpora- tions can then commercialize these insights by designing and marketing new therapeutics or other medical tech- nologies based on them. In this chain of development, allowing patenting of each incremental innovation could risk generating a dense thicket of overlap- ping intellectual rights and thus hinder research efforts.},

filename={Kesselheim Avorn (2005) - University Based Science And Biotechnology Products.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Kieff (2011) - Removing Property From Intellectual Property And Intended.pdf},

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={When distinct firms are selling inputs – all of which are required for pro- duction of the final product – they fail to internalize the effect that their royalty rates have on the demand for other inputs. This results in each patent holder setting too high a royalty rate. A "patent pool" has begun to attract widespread attention as a solution to both the transaction cost and complements problems.},

thicket_def_extract={The proliferation of fragmented and overlapping patent rights is increasingly being recognized as a serious problem; referred to as a "patent thicket" (or "anticommons" by Heller and Eisenberg, 1998). Besides the additional transaction costs incurred in navigating a patent thicket, Shapiro (2001) has called attention to another source of inefficiency – the complements problem. When distinct firms are selling inputs – all of which are required for production of the final product – they fail to internalize the effect that their royalty rates have on the demand for other inputs. This results in each patent holder setting too high a royalty rate.},

filename={Kim (2004) - Vertical Structure And Patent Pools.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={All three developments have led to what is perceived as a marked increase in junk patents, as well as what Carl Shapiro has termed a “patent thicket”—overlapping sets of patent rights leading to a maze of cross-licensing agreements, as well as the rise of hold-up litigation.},

filename={King (2007) - Clearing The Patent Thicket.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={A growing number of studies have emphasized the negative effect of the hold-up problem when firms compete for a portfolio of complementary patents, called apatent thicket (e.g., Bessen 2004, Hall and Ziedonis 2001, Shapiro 2001).},

filename={Kwon (2012) - Patent Thicket Secrecy And Licensing.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Almost one hundred years later, patent pools have re-emerged as a remedy for industries that are plagued by litigation and patent blocking, which occurs when owners of competing patents prevent the commercialization of new technologies.},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Lampe Moser (2009) - Do Patent Pools Encourage Innovation.pdf}

}

thicket_def={refs shapiro},

thicket_def_extract={We also investigate whether part of the observed decline may be driven by a reduction in lower-quality or “strategic” patents. For example, the creation of a pool may reduce the need for member firms to create patent thickets by reducing the threat of litigation (e.g., Shapiro 2001; Gilbert 2004)},

filename={Lampe Moser (2012) - Do Patent Pools Encourage Innovation.pdf}

}

thicket_stance_extract={Carl Shapiro emphasizes that firms rely heavily on cross-licensing arrangements and patent pools as a way of mitigating these problems of the anticommons (fragmented property rights).47 But small firms are effectively blocked from using these arrangements unless cash payments are accepted for participation, and typically they are not.},

thicket_def={References Shapiro},

filename={Lanjouw Schankerman (2004) - Protecting Intellectual Property Rights Are Small Firms Handicapped.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Shapiro, Overlapping Blocking Patents},

thicket_def_extract={Until recently, the economic literature on patents pools–voluntary organizations created for the purpose of pooling a group of patents into a single licensing package–has been quite sparse. Following on the heels of the intense interest in the theories of “patent thickets” and “royalty stacking” (e.g., Shapiro, 2001, 2006), and the increased proliferation of organizations that promulgate technical standards for products and services, patent pools are emerging as an important topic for economic analysis. The newfound interest is understandable, given that patent pools are one of the more readily available tools proposed for overcoming the potentially harmful effects of overlapping or blocking patent rights (Merges, 1999; Shapiro, 2001).},

filename={LayneFarrar Lerner (2011) - To Join Or Not To Join.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Single company acquisition of a dense web of overlapping patents-patent thickets15-may create a seemingly impenetrable web which a company must hack its way through in order to commercialize new technology.1 6 As the number of issued patents skyrocket, companies more frequently enter into arrangements with competitors "not only to recover their investment from creating patented products but also to avoid the patent landmines that line the path of innovation."},

filename={Leaffer (2009) - Patent Misuse And Innovation.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={They are often viewed as the “simplest solution” to intellectual property rights (IPR) bottlenecks with multiple stakeholders that have overlapping sets of IP (a.k.a patent thickets) or are uncertain if there is possible infringement of patent issues (a.k.a. Patent Hold-Up).},

thicket_def_extract={...to intellectual property rights (IPR) bottlenecks with multiple stakeholders that have overlapping sets of IP (a.k.a patent thickets)},

filename={Lee (2006) - Examining The Viability Of Patent Pools For The Growing Nanotechnology Patent Thicket.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={Our respondents do not encounter an anticommons or a patent thicket. Rather, they believe that institutionally mandated MTAs put sand in the wheels of a lively system of intradisciplinary exchanges of research tools. Seeing no countervailing effect on the supply of these tools, they conclude that patenting impedes the progress of research.},

thicket_def_extract={This question has been of particular concern for the biological sciences, where production and exchange of biological ‘research tools’ are important for ongoing scientific progress. Recent studies addressing this issue in the United States1,2, Germany3, Australia4 and Japan5 find that “patent thickets”6 or an “anticommons”7 rarely affect the research of academic scientists.},

filename={Lei Juneja Wright (2009) - Patents Versus Patenting.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The fact that a great many patents can read on a single product, and that this is common in certain critical industries, creates numerous practical problems for the operation of the patent system.},

filename={Lemley Shapiro (2006) - Patent Holdup And Royalty Stacking.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Similarly, patent thickets can have deleterious effects on both competition and innovation.},

thicket_def_extract={In a number of key industries, particularly semiconductors (Hall and Ziedonis, 2001) and computer software (Bessen and Hunt, 2004), companies file numerous patent applications on related components that are integrated into a single functional product.The result is a "patent thicket," in which hundreds of patents can apply to a single product (Shapiro, 2001; FTC, 2003).},

filename={Lemley Shapiro (2005) - Probabilistic Patents.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The dispersion of overlapping patents across too many firms can also create an anticommons or thicket problem, making effective use of the technology difficult, if not impossible},

filename={Lemley (2005) - Patenting Nanotechnology.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Firms can also address these problems in non-open-source ways, such as patent pools, standard-setting organizations, and self-imposed commitments. In a patent pool, firms blend their patents with those of other firms. These pools allow users to access a number of firms’ patents simultaneously, thereby avoiding the “patent thicket.”},

thicket_def_extract={Second, open source avoids the problem of a “patent thicket” when multiple firms have overlapping intellectual property rights, and at least one party attempts to extract a high fee for its particular contribution.},

filename={Lerner Tirole (2005) - The Economics Of Technology Sharing Open Source And Beyond.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Numerous commentators have suggested that the proliferation of these awards has had socially detrimental consequences: overlapping intellectual property rights may make it difficult for inventors to commercialize new innovations. (Gallini [2002] reviews this literature.)},

thicket_def_extract={A more benign alternative is that firms enter into patent pools to solve the “patent thicket” problem: the presence of overlapping intellectual property holdings that make it difficult for third parties to license patent holdings and develop new technologies.},

filename={Lerner Strojwas Tirole (2003) - The Structure And Performance Of Patent Pools Empirical Evidence.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Innovations in computer hardware, software, and biotechnology often build on a number of other innovations owned by a diverse set of owners and as a result “patent thicket" problems - overlapping patent claims that preclude the adoption of new technologies - can be severe.},

thicket_def_extract={Innovations in computer hardware, software, and biotechnology often build on a number of other innovations owned by a diverse set of owners and as a result “patent thicket" problems - overlapping patent claims that preclude the adoption of new technologies - can be severe.},

filename={Lerner Tirole (2002) - Efficient Patent Pools.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Many observers have suggested that patent-thicket problems where key patents are widely held affect many emerging industries. Patent thickets may lead to three problems. First, royalty stacking may result: each individual patent holder may charge a royalty that seems reasonable when viewed in isolation, but together they represent an unreasonable burden. Second, even if other firms agree to license their patents at a modest rate, a hold-out problem may result if a single firm then sets a high license fee for its technology Finally, the very process of arranging the needed licenses may prove to be time consuming. Patent pools thus offer a one-stop shop through which these problems can be avoided.},

thicket_def_extract={Many observers have suggested that patent-thicket problems - where key patents are widely held affect many emerging industries},

filename={Lerner Tirole (2008) - Public Policy Toward Patent Pools.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The environment is a complex one: many other changes, such as the widespread dissemination of the Internet, may have differentially affected firms during this period. While our result contradicts the claim by Bessen and Hunt (2004) that software patents substitute for R&D at the firm level, increased reliance on patenting could at the same time contribute to patent thickets that slow down overall innovation in the industry. Therefore, the patent thicket problem – an overlapping set of patent rights requiring those seeking to commercialize new technology obtain licenses from multiple patentees (Shapiro, 2001) – could still exist},

thicket_def_extract={Therefore, the patent thicket problem – an overlapping set of patent rights requiring those seeking to commercialize new technology obtain licenses from multiple patentees (Shapiro, 2001) – could still exist},

filename={Lerner Zhu (2007) - What Is The Impact Of Software Patent Shifts.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Numerous commentators have suggested that the proliferation of awards has had socially detrimental consequences: overlapping intellectual property rights may make it difficult for inventors to commercialize new innovations (Gallini, 2002 reviews this literature). Patent pools have been proposed by Merges (1999), Priest (1977), Shapiro (2000), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Clark, Piccolo, Stanton, and Tyson, 2001) as away in which firms can address "patent thicket" problems. Indeed, patent pools have become economically significant. Clarkson (2003) estimates that sales in 2001 of devices based inwhole or in part on pooled patents were at least $100 billion. Were suggestions to facilitate the formation of patent pools to be adopted, their role might approach that seen in the early days of the twentieth century, when many (if not most) important manufacturing industries had a patent-pooling arrangement.},

filename={Lerner Tirole Strojwas (2007) - The Design Of Patent Pools The Determinants Of Licensing Rules.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Neutral},

thicket_stance_extract={When the inputs are complements, the profitability of the innovation is decreasing in the technological complexity. In the limit (when n -> infinity), when the degree of substitutability is below a threshold level, which is higher than 1, the innovation is never profitable. This paper therefore gives a formal treatment of the tragedy of the anticommons. On the other hand, when the inputs are substitutes, the profitability of the innovation is increasing in technological complexity. Even in this case, when n -> infinity, the cost of gathering all the inputs for the innovation is always too high from a social point of view and thus the probability of innovation is suboptimal.},

thicket_def_extract={As the number of inputs needed in research increases, the innovator faces a patent thicket and is threatened by the possibility of hold-up, namely the risk that a useful innovation is not developed because of lack of agreement with the patent holders. This problem has been dubbed the tragedy of the anticommons (Heller 1998, Heller and Eisenberg 1998).},

filename={Llanes Trento (2009) - Anticommons And Optimal Patent Policy In A Model Of Sequential Innovation.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Despite the impressive pace of modern invention, commentators have observed a certain “patent thicket” effect that may be impeding what has become an increasingly difficult road to the commercialization of new technologies.1 Specifically, as new technologies build upon old technologies, they necessarily become increasingly complex, and as a result, are often subject to the protection of multiple patents, covering both the new cumulative technologies as well as old foundational technologies.2 The difficulties of acquiring licenses (e.g., hold-out problems) for all such patents has the potential to stifle the development and commercialization of these new technologies.},

thicket_def_extract={Despite the impressive pace of modern invention, commentators have observed a certain “patent thicket” effect that may be impeding what has become an increasingly difficult road to the commercialization of new technologies.1 Specifically, as new technologies build upon old technologies, they necessarily become increasingly complex, and as a result, are often subject to the protection of multiple patents, covering both the new cumulative technologies as well as old foundational technologies.2 The difficulties of acquiring licenses (e.g., hold-out problems) for all such patents has the potential to stifle the development and commercialization of these new technologies.},

filename={Lin (2001) - Research Versus Development.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={When these technologies are protected by intellectual property rights owned by many firms, patent thickets exist, which researchers have argued may hinder the development of cumulative innovations. Specifically, patent thickets may lead to excessive royalty burdens for potential licensees, which is called ‘‘royalty stacking,’’ and if such costs are passed on to consumers, prices of products based on cumulative technologies will be driven up, dubbed as ‘‘double marginalization.’’},

thicket_def_extract={Related, and often overlapping, patents owned by many entities are often described as ‘‘patent thickets’’ and researchers have argued that patent thickets can be detrimental to innovation, especially in information industries such as software (see, among others, Heller and Eisenberg, 1998; Lessig, 2001; Shapiro, 2001; Bessen and Maskin, 2009).},

filename={Lin (2011) - Licensing Strategies In The Presence Of Patent Thickets.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={With the power of the intellectual regime, internal sequential innovations offer a larger thicket of protection that can define the underlying technologies in a set of overlapping patents},

thicket_def_extract={With the power of the intellectual regime, internal sequential innovations offer a larger thicket of protection that can define the underlying technologies in a set of overlapping patents. That is, a sequence of patents revolving around the same technological trajectory can define the intellectual property more precisely and protect it with an enlarged degree of coverage. The holder of such patented innovations can thereafter exclude competitors from the collective scope of the claims laid out in all of the sequential patents (Wagner and Parchomovsky, 2005). In contrast, stand-alone innovations are more likely to be invented around and the underlying intellectual property has a higher hazard of being appropriated (Shapiro, 2000).},

filename={Liu (2008) - Internal Sequential Innovations.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The pharmaceutical industry has been instrumental in creating a patent system for the pharmaceutical industry, appropriate to the orderly innovation of that industry. Acceptance of the innovation myth has meant that this logic is rarely challenged. Thus, for instance, development may relate to many patents, not just one (Heller and Eisenberg, 1998). The costs of navigating through mazes of overlapping patent rights – through patent thickets – are likely to be considerable (Shapiro, 2001), and are likely to be an obstacle to innovation.},

thicket_def_extract={The costs of navigating through mazes of overlapping patent rights – through patent thickets – are likely to be considerable (Shapiro, 2001)...},

filename={Macdonald (2004) - When Means Become Ends.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Mallo (2008) - Patent Related Barriers To Market Entry For Generic Medicines In The European Union.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The present paper upholds policy arguments that emphasize the importance of a severe application of this patentability requirement as a means to limit the size of "patent thickets" and to promote innovation in sectors where complementary innovations are frequent (Jaffe, 2000; Barton, 2003; FTC, 2003)... When …final products embody several complementary innovations, the scattering of patents between various owners jeopardizes the commercial exploitation of the products because of negotiation and royalty stacking issues (Merges & Nelson, 1990; Heller & Eisenberg, 1998; Shapiro, 2001)},

thicket_def_extract={It is also very frequent in ICT industries such as electronics, computer hardware and software, where …rms have to navigate "patent thickets" (Shapiro, 2001).},

filename={Meniere (2008) - Patent Law And Complementary Innovations.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={In addition to the costs of individual patents, researchers have to contend with “patent thickets.” That is, complex technologies, such as biomedical research tools,embody a number of technological inputs, many of which are patented. A different company, in turn, could own each patent. Negotiating these thickets raises the cost of securing rights. Weaker patent standards encourage patent proliferation and an enlargement of the thickets for research in areas such as biotechnology, agricultural chemicals, and pharmaceuticals...That suggests patent thickets and transactions costs may slow down the diffusion of scientific research.},

thicket_def_extract={In addition to the costs of individual patents, researchers have to contend with “patent thickets.” That is, complex technologies, such as biomedical research tools,embody a number of technological inputs, many of which are patented.},

filename={Maskus (2006) - Reforming Us Patent Policy Getting The Incentives Right.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Third, there are patents of low private value and low (or negative) social value; this class of patents includes both discarded, unenforced patents that increase the search costs and risk imposed on commercial firms—the "patent thicket", in popular parlance (Shapiro 2001)—and worthless, largely unenforceable patents usable only for extracting nuisance settlements (see Section 2.2.).},

thicket_def_extract={Third, there are patents of low private value and low (or negative) social value; this class of patents includes both discarded, unenforced patents that increase the search costs and risk imposed on commercial firms—the ‘‘patent thicket,’’ in popular parlance (Shapiro 2001)...},

filename={Masur (2010) - Costly Screens And Patent Examination.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={As noted above, the existence of the patent thicket and the problem of low quality patents make it especially easy for trolls to acquire patents that arguably cover one of the hundreds or thousands of processes incorporated in a single high technology product. The troll waits until a company with deep pockets makes irreversible investments in the arguably infringing technology. The troll may even revise the terms of the patent (through a patent "reissuance" or "continuation") in light of the target's investment in order to strengthen the infringement claim. The troll then uses the threat of an injunction shutting down production to demand a significant share of the total profit associated with the product. This gamesmanship results in no social benefit and a great deal of harm.},

thicket_def_extract={As the Federal Trade Commission recently explained, innovation in the computer and Internet industry is often incremental and cumulative, and the pace of change is rapid.4 The net result is that each marketable product in this industry may incorporate--often in an incidental, tangential, and sometimes unintentional way-hundreds or even thousands of patented processes. This is commonly described as a "patent thicket": "a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology." Carl Shapiro, Navigating the Patent Thicket: Cross Licenses, Patent Pools, and Standard-Setting, in INNOVATION POLICY AND THE ECONOMY 119, 120-21 (Adam Jaffee et al. eds., 2001); see also To Promote Innovation 2:27-31, 3:2, 34-35, 52-53},

filename={Merges (2006) - Introductory Note To Brief Of Amicus Curiae In Ebay V MercExchange.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Managing the patent thicket in the fields of vaccine technology is challenging as one product may be covered by a plurality of exclusive IP rights that have to be considered when developing a product and building up a patent portfolio. Consequently, licensing is a key point in the vaccine industry.If a basic patent is held by a powerful patent holder refusing to grant a license under reasonable commercial terms or abuses a market-dominating position, it should be examined, whether the requirements to request a compulsory license are fulfilled.},

filename={Mertes Stotter (2010) - Managing The Patent Thicket And Maximizing Patent Lifetime In Vaccine Technology.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Furthermore, a thicket of patents may stultify development of technology because of the cost of securing patent licenses from the large numbers of patent owners.},

thicket_def_extract={Furthermore, a thicket of patents may stultify development of technology because of the cost of securing patent licenses from the large numbers of patent owners.},

filename={Meurer (2002) - Business Method Patents And Patent Floods.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weakly Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={Moreover, even if there were a "patent thicket" problem, others state that firms have found a range of means to overcome these obstacles, including cross-licenses and patent pooling.},

thicket_def_extract={According to Professor Carl Shapiro, a "patent thicket" has formed, which he describes as "a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology."},

filename={Muris (2001) - Competition And Intellectual Property Policy The Way Ahead.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Pharmaceutical companies typically grow a patent thicket seeking a wide range of chemical variants and analogs, methods of synthesizing the drug, chemical intermediates in this synthesis, different crystal forms, different finished dosage forms and various methods of use. 62 Obtaining permission from various patent holders for use of patents can prove to be difficult particularly if the patent holder’s objective in creating the thicket is to block innovation by outsiders. Because useful innovation in biotechnology requires multiple inventive steps and technologies, we could conceivably witness cumulative innovation with infringement on many patents which ultimately serves as a drag on innovation and commercialization.},

thicket_def_extract={This pattern, however, has created what some would characterize as a “Patent Thicket” 59 in biotechnology. That is, emerging from the overabundance of patent filings and associated activity is “a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights”},

filename={Napoleon (2009) - Impact Of Global Patent And Regulatory Reform On Patent Strategies For Biotechnology.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Many of the patents overlap and block the use of other patents, thereby creating a “patent thicket”—a “dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology.”3 It is hypothesized that patent thickets increase transactional costs and stifle innovation by making it more expensive and difficult to bring new developments to the market.},

thicket_def_extract={Many of the patents overlap and block the use of other patents, thereby creating a “patent thicket”—a “dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology.”},

filename={Nielsen Samardzija (2006) - Compulsory Patent Licensing.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Palangkaraya Webster Jensen (2011) - Misclassification Between Patent Offices.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={While many companies will want to use these nanomaterials, the LuxReport states these companies will be forced to license patents from many different sources. Potentially, there will be significant transactional costs for further nanotechnology developments due to these overlapping claims. Moreover, the quality of these nanotechnology patents has been repeatedly called into question," so the navigation of a patent thicket will have to be around these questionable patents.},

thicket_def_extract={The notion of a patent thicket is where an overlapping set of patent rights requires that those seeking to commercialize new technology obtain licenses from multiple patentees},

filename={Paredes (2006) - Written Description Requirement In Nanotechnology.pdf}

}

thicket_stance_extract={Defensive patenting has become particularly prominent in certain industries like the semiconductor industry, where innovation is cumulative, and a thicket of relevant patents often exists. See Bronwyn H. Hall & Rosemarie Ham Ziedonis, The Patent Paradox Revisited: An Empirical Study of Patenting in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry, 1979-1995, 32 RAND J. Econ. 101, 104 (2001). In such industries, firms gain freedom to operate through defensive patenting. Indeed, within the semiconductor industry, it appears that much of the increase in patenting per R&D dollar over the last two decades has been the consequence of defensive patenting. See id. (noting that firms "appear to be engaged in 'patent portfolio races' aimed at reducing concerns about being held up by external patent owners and at negotiating access to external technologies on more favorable terms"). According to Hall and Ziedonis, this increase in defensive patenting "is causally related to the pro-patent shift in the U.S. legal environment in the 1980s." Id. I discuss this alleged "pro-patent" shift infra Part III.B.},

thicket_def={References Heller/Eisenberg, Multiple overlapping patents},

filename={Rai (2003) - Engaging Facts And Policy.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={We further argued that the increasing technology monitoring efforts for victims of trolls, namely large manufacturing R&D intensive firms, due to ballooning numbers of patent applications, probably led to the increase of sharks’ relevance for innovators. It facilitates 'trapping’ manufacturers by ‘hiding’ patented technologies in confusing patent thickets—a second necessary condition for sharks to operate. oreover, the strengthening of patent holder’s rights in certain jurisdictions (e.g. the US) most likely enabled sharks to operate more profitably, too.},

thicket_def_extract={As both articles show, the “strategic use” of patents (the two most important types being blocking and cross-licensing with patent ‘thickets’ playing a major role for the latter), has classically been discussed from the perspective of those patent holders who either engage in the production of their own technological goods or consider themselves professional intellectual property suppliers who repeatedly interact with manufacturers.},

filename={Reitzig Henkel Heath (2007) - On Sharks Trolls And Their Patent Prey.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Neutral},

thicket_stance_extract={The competitive offensive advantage associated with a patent thicket can be high. It follows, of course, that there is also a substantial defensive advantage as well. The result may be a “race” to grow one’s IP portfolio. Unfortunately, however, it is not clear whether that race will be “to the top” (i.e., in the social interest), or “to the bottom” (i.e., harmful from a social point of view).},

thicket_def_extract={Shapiro (2001) characterizes a patent thicket as a “dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology.”},

filename={Rubinfeld Maness (2004) - The Strategic Use Of Patents Implications For Antitrust.pdf}

}

thicket_def={def9},

thicket_def_extract={Patent thickets, layers of licenses a firm needs to be able to offer products that embody technologies owned by multiple firms, and licensing policies have drawn increasing scrutiny from policy makers. Patent thickets involve complementary products, which gives rise to double marginalization - the so-called royalty stacking problem - and has the potential to retard diffusion of new technologies and reduce consumer welfare.},

filename={Rey Salant (2012) - Abuse Of Dominance And Licensing Of Intellectual Property.pdf}

}

@article{shapiro2003antitrust,

author={Shapiro, C.},

journal={RAND Journal of Economics},

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={As described in Shapiro (2001), more and more companies are facing a patent thicket requiring them to obtain multiple licenses to bring their products safely to market.},

thicket_def_extract={As described in Shapiro (2001), more and more companies are facing a patent thicket requiring them to obtain multiple licenses to bring their products safely to market.},

filename={Shapiro (2003) - Antitrust Limits To Patent Settlements.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Neutral},

thicket_stance_extract={On the one hand, the fear of the patent thicket has been raised: "[i]f you get monopoly rights down at the bottom, you may stifle competition that uses those patents later on and so . . . the breadth and utilization of patent rights can be used not only to stifle competition, but also have adverse effects in the long run on innovation."9On the other hand, encouraging private investment in commercialization has also been raised: "[b]y enabling corporations to negotiate exclusive licenses of promising technologies [that were publicly funded],... [this] encourage[s] them to invest in the additional research, development, and manufacturing capabilities needed to bring new products to market." The information technology industry did not suffer severe patent deadlock in its early years while the radio industry did},

thicket_def_extract={Carl Shapiro defines "patent thicket" as "an overlapping set of patent rights requiring that those seeking to commercialize new technology obtain licenses from multiple patentees."},

filename={Sabety (2004) - Nanotechnology Innovation And The Patent Thicket.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={More recently, a National Academy of Sciences (2006) committee studied the issue, concluding that even though evidence of blocking or market failures has yet to emerge, the anticommons or patent thickets may well emerge as profit opportunities in biomedical markets grow.},

thicket_def_extract={Shapiro (2001) broadens the concept as a “patent thicket” in which possible outcomes include excessively high fees for the use of the patent set, uncertainty regarding potential patent infringement, and, in the limit, holdup problems.},

filename={Santore McKee Bjornstad (2010) - Patent Pools As A Solution To Efficient Licensing Of Complementary Patents.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={This “patent thicket” (Shapiro, 2001) gives rise to a complements problem: each patent holder does not internalize the negative external effect on the revenues of the other patent holders when setting his royalties, so the sum of all royalties will be inefficiently high.},

thicket_def_extract={This “patent thicket” (Shapiro, 2001) gives rise to a complements problem: each patent holder does not internalize the negative external effect on the revenues of the other patent holders when setting his royalties, so the sum of all royalties will be inefficiently high.},

filename={Schmidt (2008) - Complementary Patents And Market Structure.pdf}

}

@article{schneider2008fences,

author={Schneider, C.},

journal={International Journal of Industrial Organization},

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={While the issue of "thickets" of complementary technologies in cumulative innovations has been extensively analyzed2, as well as the institutional solutions to overcome this problem (Lerner and Tirole, 2005 and Shapiro, 2001), little attention has been paid to fencing patents so far.},

thicket_def_extract={More precisely, …firms will patent a coherent group of inventions, which form what is sometimes called a patent "bulk", aimed at protecting one product. The "bulk" can either be a "fence" of substitute patents or a "thicket" of complementary patents (see Reitzig, 2004 and Cohen et al., 2000).},

filename={Schneider (2008) - Fences And Competition In Patent Races.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weakly Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={One might argue that the rate of innovation or at least of patenting is in fact too high in some sectors, particularly those in which the patent thicket problem is severe. A problem 26 with this argument is that the returns to major innovations would be reduced by collective negotiation, not just the returns to the minor advances that contribute more to patent thickets than to real progress. },

filename={Schmalensee (2009) - Standard Setting Innovation Specialists And Competition Policy.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Serafino (2007) - Survey Of Patent Pools Demonstrates Variety Of Purposes And Management Structures.pdf},

}

thicket_stance={Weak Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Although industry analysts assert that nanotech is in its infancy, patent thickets on fundamental nano-scale materials, tools and processes are already creating thorny barriers for would-be innovators.},

filename={Shand Wetter (2007) - Trends In Intellectual Property And Nanotechnology.pdf}

}

thicket_def={},

thicket_def_extract={},

filename={Schmidt (2007) - Negotiating The Rnai Patent Thicket.pdf}

}

thicket_stance_extract={When strong, watertight patents are available, as in pharma ceuticals, firms may be able to rely on them to isolate key commercial opportunities (Merges, 1998). On the other hand, in systems products industries, thickets of patents may be necessary to foil attempts to invent around the patent, and obtain a robust patent position. Moreover, defen sive patenting?the building of large patent port folios may become necessary if rivals, aided by a strong enforcement regime, are able to effectively threaten to hold up a firm's commercial operations (Hall and Ziedonis, 2001).},

thicket_def={Strategic Value, Multiple Overlapping Blocking Patents},

filename={Somaya (2003) - Strategic Determinants Of Decisions Not To Settle Patent Litigation.pdf}

}

thicket_def={References Heller/Eisenberg},

thicket_def_extract={Indeed, the plethora of IP implicated, and the resulting complex licensing required, has led some academics to despair that some sections of the economy have—or are about to—experience a “tragedy of the anticommons” (i.e., no one will use the patented technology because licensing the required technologies is simply too challenging or too expensive).},

filename={Somaya Teece Wakeman (2011) - Innovation In Multi Invention Contexts.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Assumed Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The development of such a patent thicket could deter further innovation, 6 and the active enforcement by nanotechnology patent holders of their exclusivity rights ultimately could result in the creation of a nanotechnology anticommons-a situation in which a scarce resource becomes prone to underuse because there are too many owners holding the right to exclude others from that resource, and no one has an effective privilege of use.},

thicket_def_extract={Unfortunately, the rush to secure worldwide intellectual property rights in nanotechnology could lead to the development of a "patent thicket." This term, coined by intellectual property scholars, refers to an overlapping set of patent rights that requires researchers, inventors, and entrepreneurs seeking to commercialize new technologies to obtain licenses from multiple patentees.},

filename={Tullis (2005) - Application Of The Government License Defense To Federally Funded Nanotechnology Research.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={The patent thicket is a problem because useful innovation in biotechnology requires multiple inventive steps and technologies. The field of biotechnology is particularly dependent on the cumulative work of many researchers, and therefore is vulnerable to the “anticommons” problem mentioned earlier.},

thicket_def_extract={This pattern — the increasing number of patents, increasing patent breadth, and the issuance of patents on more basic discoveries — has created what some call a patent thicket in biotechnology: “an overlapping set of patent rights requiring that those seeking to commercialize new technology obtain licenses from multiple patentees},

filename={Taylor Cayford (2003) - American Patent Policy Biotechnology And African Agriculture.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weakly Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={Moreover, there are factors that may lead to the emergence of a patent blocking problem in genetics in the future: increased awareness among researchers; and growing rate of patent enforcement caused by the strategic enforcement of their rights by patent holders and the proliferating complexity of biomedical research requiring a broader range and greater number of inputs of which a growing number is patented.},

filename={VanZimmeren (2006) - A Clearing House For Diagnostic Testing.pdf}

}

thicket_def={Quotes Shapiro, References Shapiro, References Heller/Eisenberg},

thicket_def_extract={Problems arise when “patent thickets” (a web of overlapping patents through which a com- pany must “hack” in order to commercialize a technology) emerge},

filename={VanOverwalle (2010) - Turning Patent Swords Into Shares.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Weakly Pro},

thicket_stance_extract={There is increasing concern that overlapping patents in the field of genetics will create a costly and legally complex situation known as a patent thicket, which, along with the associated issues of accumulating royalty payments, can act as a disincentive for innovation.},

thicket_def_extract={Patent thicket. The intellectual property portfolios of several companies that form a dense web of overlapping intellectual property right},

filename={Verbeure (2006) - Patent Pools And Diagnostic Testing.pdf}

}

thicket_stance={Anti},

thicket_stance_extract={Control-talk is of "the second enclosure movement," the lurking "tragedy of the anticommons," or the dangers of "patent thickets" -not to mention the phenomenon of litigation efforts (or perhaps social movements?) sporting their own slogans (and logos), such as "Free the Mouse," "Create Like It's 1790," or "When Copyright Attacks."},

thicket_def_extract={"Patent thickets" refer to the fact that in many areas of technology, great numbers of related patents exist at any particular time, and many might have applicability to any commercial product.},

filename={Wagner (2003) - Information Wants to be Free}

}