Patent Assertion Entities and Competition Policy

Patent assertion entities (commonly known as 'patent trolls') hurt competition and innovation. This book, the first to analyze the most salient issues related to patent assertion entities around the world, integrates economic theory with economic and legal reality to examine how the entities function and their impact on competition. It also offers legal and policy solutions that might be used to combat them. Edited by D. Daniel Sokol, the volume collects chapters from an array of leading scholars who describe patent assertion entities in the United States, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and China, while offering empirical accounts of the entities' economic consequences and their use of litigation as a means of legal extortion against many of the most innovative companies in the world, from startups to multinationals. It should be read by anyone interested in how patent assertion entities operate and how they might be stopped.

1. Introduction D. Daniel Sokol; 2. Missing the forest for the trolls Mark A. Lemley and A. Douglas Melamed; 3. Empirical evidence on the behavior and impact of patent trolls: a survey Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers; 4. Assertion of standard-essential patents by non-practicing entities Jorge L. Contreras; 5. Patent privateering: the rise of the hybrid patent assertion entities D. Daniel Sokol; 6. Regulating patent assertions Paul R. Gugliuzza; 7. Patent assertion entities in Europe Brian J. Love, Christian Helmers, Fabian Gaessler and Max Ernicke; 8. Treatment of PAEs (patent-assertion entities) under Korean antitrust law Haksoo Ko and Jeong Seo; 9. Patent assertion entities issues in China Meng Yanbei; 10. Patent assertion entities and competition law in Japan Tadashi Shiraishi; 11. Patent assertion entities in merger review in Taiwan: issues of characterization and remedies Andy C. M. Chen.

D. Daniel Sokol is Professor of Law at the University of Florida, focusing his scholarship on antitrust law. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Fellow of the George Washington Law School Competition Center, and a member of the American Law Institute.