TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-practicing entities and transparency of patent ownership in Europe
T2 - the case of UK dormant companies
AU - Sterzi, Valerio
AU - Rameshkoumar, Jean Paul
AU - Van Der Pol, Johannes
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful for funding from the French National Research Agency (ANR, Project NPEIE - https://npeie.org - ANR-17-CE26-0014-01_ACT). The paper is part of a study (Sterzi et al. 2020) that has been produced with partial funding from VIA Inno, the technology intelligence platform of the University of Bordeaux specialized in developing methodologies for characterizing innovation landscapes, and IP2Innovate. This study was presented at an online event organized by IP2Innovate and supported by Marion Walsmann, MEP, Member and Vice-Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee and Member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection in the European Parliament: http://patents4digital.ip2innovate.eu/. We have received excellent insights and comments from Stefania Fusco, Massimiliano Granieri, Francesco Lissoni, Catalina Martinez, and Gianluca Orsatti.
Funding Information:
We are grateful for funding from the French National Research Agency (ANR, Project NPEIE - https://npeie.org - ANR-17-CE26-0014-01_ACT). The paper is part of a study ( Sterzi et al., 2020 ) that has been produced with partial funding from VIA Inno, the technology intelligence platform of the University of Bordeaux specialized in developing methodologies for characterizing innovation landscapes, and IP2Innovate. This study was presented at an online event organized by IP2Innovate and supported by Marion Walsmann, MEP, Member and Vice-Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee and Member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection in the European Parliament: http://patents4digital.ip2innovate.eu/ . We have received excellent insights and comments from Stefania Fusco, Massimiliano Granieri, Francesco Lissoni, Catalina Martinez, and Gianluca Orsatti.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Dormant companies
KW - Non-practicing entities
KW - Patent assertion entities
KW - Patent litigation
KW - Patent transparency
KW - Patent trolls
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111599999&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121069
DO - 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121069
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85111599999
SN - 0040-1625
VL - 172
JO - Technological Forecasting and Social Change
JF - Technological Forecasting and Social Change
M1 - 121069
ER -