Most innovations are the result of a cumulative R&D process, i.e., their production requires the combination of knowledge contained in previous innovations (for a general presentation, see my previous ‘Dig It!’ post). Cumulative innovations raise specific problems that put the patent system under stress. We already explained on this blog that holdup strategies or licensing […]
Tag Archives | licensing
The smartphone patent wars: nothing really surprising…
By 28 November 2013 42
(This is an updated and slightly modified version of this post, published on April 25, 2012.) In April 2012, Lucy Koh, a US District Court Judge, tried to force a truce on one of the fiercest fronts of what is now commonly known as the “Smartphone Patent Wars”. She ordered Tim Cook and Choi Gee-Sung, […]
The smartphone patent wars and competition policy
By 25 April 2012 13
Last Wednesday (April 18, 2012), Lucy Koh, a US District Court Judge, may have paved the way towards a truce on one of the fiercest fronts of what is now commonly known as the “Smartphone Patent Wars”. She ordered Tim Cook and Choi Gee-Sung, the CEOs of Apple and Samsung, to meet and work out […]
The Premier League case: not the last case on internal market restrictions before the ECJ
By 7 May 2011 0
In the Premier League case, the Court of Justice of the EU (Cases C-403/08 and C-429/08) is asked to give a preliminary ruling on several questions asked by the UK High Court of Justice in relation to the marketing of decoder cards and the satellite transmission of football matches throughout the internal market. The facts […]
The nascent e-books market: another illicit fragmentation of the internal market?
By 7 May 2011 0
In the Premier League case now before the Court of Justice of the EU (Cases C-403/08 and C-429/08, see also ipdigit), the Advocate General (AG), in her opinion of 3 February 2011, has highlighted the problem of fragmentation of the internal market by referring to the burgeoning e-books market. According to the AG (§ 186), […]
Markets for technology: big hopes and … big difficulties
By 27 October 2010 31
(Original publication: October 2010; updated in November 2012) It is widely agreed that one of the main economic roles of IP law is to create exclusive rights: exclusivity allows innovators to appropriate the returns from their invention and it is the prospect of such returns that gives them the incentives to engage in […]