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Per unit vs. ad valorem royalty licensing

Author

Listed:
  • Fan, Cuihong
  • Jun, Byoung Heon
  • Wolfstetter, Elmar G.

Abstract

We consider licensing of non-drastic innovations by a patent holder who interacts with a potential licensee in a downstream market. We compare two kinds of license contracts: per unit and ad valorem royalties, combined with fixed fees. Assuming that antitrust authorities apply the same principle to review ad valorem licensing which they apply to per unit licensing, we show that per unit licensing is more profitable if the licensor is more efficient in using the innovation, whereas ad valorem licensing is more profitable if the licensee is more efficient. This explains why and when these licensing schemes should be observed.

Suggested Citation

  • Fan, Cuihong & Jun, Byoung Heon & Wolfstetter, Elmar G., 2018. "Per unit vs. ad valorem royalty licensing," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 71-75.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:170:y:2018:i:c:p:71-75
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2018.06.002
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Manel Antelo & Lluís Bru, 2022. "Per-unit versus ad-valorem royalty licensing in a Stackelberg market," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(1), pages 95-109, March.
    2. Luca Sandrini, 2023. "Price vs Market Share with Royalty Licensing: Incomplete Adoption of a Superior Technology with Heterogeneous Firms," Discussion Papers 2302, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Quantitative Social and Management Sciences.
    3. Ma, Siyu & Sen, Debapriya & Tauman, Yair, 2022. "Optimal patent licensing: from three to two part tariffs," MPRA Paper 111624, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Carlo Capuano & Iacopo Grassi, 2020. "Imperfect patent protection, licensing, and willingness to pay for the innovation," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 47(2), pages 333-359, June.
    5. Marta Montinaro & Rupayan Pal & Marcella Scrimitore, 2020. "Per Unit and Ad Valorem Royalties in a Patent Licensing Game," Working Papers 2020.14, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    6. Wang, Wei & Lyu, Gaoyan & Cui, Wei & Li, Yongjian, 2021. "Strategic technology commercialization in the supply chain under network effects," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    7. Montinaro, Marta & Scrimitore, Marcella, 2019. "Per unit and ad valorem royalties in a patent licensing game," MPRA Paper 96642, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Shin Kishimoto, 2020. "The welfare effect of bargaining power in the licensing of a cost-reducing technology," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 173-193, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Patent licensing; Royalty contracts; R&D; Optimal contracts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D45 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Rationing; Licensing

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