Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/223350 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 20-037
Publisher: 
ZEW - Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung, Mannheim
Abstract: 
We analyze the extent to which private defensive litigation insurance deters patent assertion by non-practicing entities (NPEs). We study the effect that a patent-specific defensive insurance product, offered by a leading litigation insurer, had on the litigation behavior of insured patents' owners, all of which are NPEs. We first model the impact of defensive litigation insurance on the behavior of patent enforcers and accused infringers. We show that the availability of defensive litigation insurance can have an effect on how often patent enforcers will assert their patents. We confirm this result empirically showing that the insurance policy had a large, negative effect on the likelihood that a patent included in the policy was subsequently asserted relative to other patents held by the same NPEs and relative to patents held by other NPEs with portfolios that were entirely excluded from the insurance product. Our findings suggest that market-based mechanisms can deter so-called "patent trolling."
Subjects: 
NPEs
patents
insurance
litigation
JEL: 
G22
K41
O34
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
962.27 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.