Non-practicing entities and transparency of patent ownership in Europe: the case of UK dormant companies

Valerio Sterzi, Jean-Paul Rameshkoumar and Johannes van der Pol

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2021, vol. 172, issue C

Abstract: While various studies in the fields of law and economics have analysed the business models of patent aggregators and large non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the US, small NPEs operating in Europe typically escape academic and media attention. Here, to address this imbalance, we specifically identify and characterize the patent portfolios of NPEs registered as dormant companies in the UK and investigate whether they are created for the purpose of acquiring valuable IP assets or launching litigation campaigns. Our econometric analysis – based on more than two hundred NPEs registered as dormant companies in 2019 – supports the second hypothesis. Finally, as an illustrative example of how small NPEs use UK dormant companies to acquire and litigate patents in Europe, we describe the business model of Dragon Green Development Balboa SA, an entity incorporated in the Republic of Panama that controls thirteen UK dormant companies and which is involved in fourteen patent litigation cases in Germany.

Keywords: Dormant companies; Patent litigation; Non-practicing entities; Patent assertion entities; Patent trolls; Patent transparency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D23 O31 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Non-practicing entities and transparency of patent ownership in Europe: the case of UK dormant companies (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:172:y:2021:i:c:s0040162521005011

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121069

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