Author: Jorge Contreras
Abstract: This chapter in the forthcoming case book “Intellectual Property Licensing and Transactions: Theory and Practice” covers IP pooling, with an emphasis on patents. It begins with a discussion of the theoretical benefit of pooling, including efficiency gains and the avoidance of blocking positions, thickets and anti-commons. It then addresses antitrust analysis of pooling transactions from Standard Oil (Indiana) v. United States (U.S. 1931) through the 2017 DOJ-FTC Antitrust Guidelines. The chapter then turns to pools created to facilitate standard-setting, including the MPEG-2 and 3GPP Pools, and discusses the concept of complementarity and essentiality of pooled assets. It concludes with brief discussions of Princo v. ITC (Fed. Cir. 2010) and the rise of patent aggregators such as RPX Corp.
Citation: Contreras, Jorge L., Intellectual Property Pools and Aggregation (October 21, 2020). Jorge L. Contreras, Intellectual Property Licensing and Transactions: Theory and Practice, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3716569 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3716569
