Investing in legal advice

Steffen Juranek

Information Economics and Policy, 2018, vol. 44, issue C, 28-46

Abstract: I study the effect of strategic product market considerations on the resource spending decision of plaintiffs in patent lawsuits. I use a unique sample of US patent litigation cases and focus on an important decision of the plaintiffs; their decision to hire external attorneys. I find that plaintiffs hire significantly more attorneys if they are in a horizontal relationship with the defendant rather than in a vertical relationship, i.e., if the litigants compete on the product market. This strategic product market effect is more pronounced the more concentrated the product market is.

Keywords: Litigation; Patents; Strategic value; Competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K00 K41 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:44:y:2018:i:c:p:28-46

DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2018.06.002

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