This paper reviews and compares patent pools and intellectual property clearinghouses as alternative systems for efficient access to licensable intellectual property in a 'market for technology' (Arora et al 2001). These systems improve aid downstream research and development by economizing on search and transaction costs faced by licensees, as well as potentially mitigating externalities among owners of complementary intellectual property that lead to the 'tragedy of the anti‐commons' (excessively high license fees). We compare the features and economic effects of different systems, review some successful examples, and suggest directions for future economic research.
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Paper provided by Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University in its series PIE/CIS Discussion Paper with number
362.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Jean-Charles Rochet Author-Email: rochet@cict.fr Author-Workplace-Name: IDEI, University of Toulouse & Jean Tirole Author-Email: tirole@cict.fr Author-Workplace-Name: IDEI, University of Toulouse, 2006.
"Two-Sided Markets: A Progress Report,"
RAND Journal of Economics,
The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 645-667, Autumn.
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