Navigating the patent minefield through consortia

• Autores: David López Berzosa, Annabelle Gawer, Gonzalo Camarillo
• Localización: MIT Sloan management review, ISSN 1532-9194, Vol. 57, Nº 4, 2016, págs. 18-20
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The mobile and Internet sectors offer useful examples of how companies can contain the threat of patent litigation. By joining technology consortia, companies such as Apple, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Google, and Qualcomm pool their patent portfolios to develop markets for technology together. In doing so, they not only become more effective innovators but also augment their chances to capture the value these new markets offer. There are specific challenges associated with participating in technology consortia. Companies need to balance the enforcement of their own intellectual property (IP) rights with the pursuit of the collective good, as it is in every participants interest to make sure that no party carries its private interests too far and fractures the patent pool by refusing to contribute a critical technology. In developed economies, patent systems give inventors temporary monopolistic rights to profit from their patented inventions. But the current patent paradigm seems misguided for high-tech industries where products are increasingly complex and made out of components developed by multiple companies. Companies in technology consortia typically waive some of their IP rights in order to reduce patent search, costs of licensing, and litigation with other stakeholders. There is a delicate balance between the interests of individual companies and those of the collective.