 Just-in-time patents and the development of standardsByeongwoo Kang () and Rudi Bekkers Research Policy, 2015, vol. 44, issue 10, 1948-1961 Abstract: Modern technical standards often include large numbers of patented technologies that are required to implement those standards. These “standard-essential patents” are very valuable assets, and firms that do not own such patents are prepared to spend billions of dollars purchasing them. Whereas large numbers of standard-essential patents are often taken for granted, this study focuses on the process by which companies obtain such patents. Analyzing original data of a large standardization process, we demonstrate how many companies use a strategy we call “just-in-time patenting”: They apply for patents of low technical merit just before a standardization meeting, and then send the patents’ inventors to the meeting to negotiate this patented technology into the standard. Our findings have several implications for standard-setting organizations, patent offices, and policymakers, as the inclusion of just-in-time patents may reduce competition and market entry, increase prices, and unnecessarily complicate the technological content of standards. Keywords: Patents; Standards; Essential patents; SEPs; Strategic behavior; W-CDMA; LTE (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:44:y:2015:i:10:p:1948-1961 DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2015.07.001 Access Statistics for this article Research Policy is currently edited by M. Bell, B. Martin, W.E. Steinmueller, A. Arora, M. Callon, M. Kenney, S. Kuhlmann, Keun Lee and F. Murray More articles in Research Policy from Elsevier |
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