Benchmarking U.S. university patent value and commercialization efforts: A new approach

Despite the economic significance of patented university research, it is difficult to measure the economic value of academic patented inventions and observe the extent to which universities are able to capture such value through patent licensing. Moving beyond assessing commercialization performance by simple statistics, we propose a new approach to benchmarking university patents and commercialization performance based on comparative corporate patent value. Our procedure involves matching university patents to patents with similar patent characteristics granted to public corporations, then estimating the “potential value” of these university patents by stock market reactions to grants of the matched corporate patents. These estimated values of university patents can significantly explain the technology-level income from licensing by a leading US research university and the annual licensing income of the member universities of the Association of University Technology Managers’ (AUTM). We find that AUTM universities realize an average of 16% of the estimated value of matched corporate patents. We also investigate correlates of university‐level potential patent value and suggest avenues for future research.     

An empirical study on the determinants of essential patent claims in compatibility standards

In the field of compatibility standards, an increasing number of companies claim to own so-called essential patents (i.e. those patents that are indispensable for designing and manufacturing products conforming to the standard). It is widely believed that the ownership of such patents is a very valuable bargaining tool in cross-license negotiations, while for non-producing firms such patents may result in a substantial stream of licensing revenues. In this paper we study the determinants of essential patent claims in compatibility standards. In particular, we assess the role of two main factors: the significance of the technological solution contained in the patent and the involvement of the applicant of the patent in the standardisation process. We examine the case of W-CDMA, one of the most successful standards in mobile telecommunications. We compare the patents claimed essential for this standard with a control group of randomly selected, unclaimed patents covering the same time period and technology classes. We find empirical evidence that both factors have significant impact on the probability that a patent is claimed as essential, but the involvement in the standardisation process is a stronger determinant than the technical value (‘merit’) of the patent. On the basis of our findings, we offer policy recommendations.     

论标准必要专利FRAND劫持规制

为规制标准必要专利中的FRAND劫持,促进标准必要专利更好地运用于市场,本文从FRAND劫持的本质属性出发,探索其与普通专利侵权存在的不同之处。在此基础上,借鉴美国、德国规制FRAND劫持的实践,结合我国具体情况提出建议。在标准必要专利信息对称层面,建立、完善标准必要专利信息披露制度和标准必要专利许可使用费相对公开机制;在标准必要专利侵权救济层面,通过审查标准实施者是否恶意决定禁令的实施,采用技术分摊规则、比较许可协议等综合考量确定专利侵权损害赔偿。     

专利池代际演化的过程、模式与启示

专利池作为一种“一站式”的专利授权制度安排,有效地解决了分割的专利市场的授权问题并对产业创新产生了重要影响。近年来,专利池呈现出明显的代际演化现象,在此过程中专利池业务模式不断升级、应用范围显著扩大,已有研究对这一问题却缺乏深入分析。通过对光碟和MPEG两个专利池的代际演化过程进行深入剖析和比较,探讨了专利池代际演化的过程、模式和发展趋势。研究发现随着内外部环境的变化,专利池的专利数量不断增加、成员类型日益多元、治理结构逐步完善,现代专利池正在向“池中池”和“多元专利池组合”等超级专利池模式演化。研究结论对知识产权管理理论和我国的产业创新实践都具有重要的贡献和启示。     

Linguistic metrics for patent disclosure: Evidence from university versus corporate patents

Encouraging disclosure is important for the patent system, yet the technical information in patent applications is often inadequate. We use algorithms from computational linguistics to quantify the effectiveness of disclosure in patent applications. Relying on the expectation that universities have more ability and incentive to disclose their inventions than corporations, we analyze 64 linguistic measures of patent applications, and show that university patents are more readable by 0.4 SD of a synthetic measure of readability. Results are robust to controlling for non-disclosure-related invention heterogeneity. The linguistic metrics are evaluated by a panel of “expert” student engineers and further examined by USPTO 112(a) – lack of disclosure – rejection. The ability to quantify disclosure opens new research paths and potentially facilitates improvement of disclosure.     

团体专利:一种专利向标准转化的制度安排

专利制度安排的合理性，直接关系到专利成果的有效转化。同时也影响着由专利转化而形成的产业经济增长质量。专利向技术标准转化是技术转化的一条新兴战略选择。在这种路径设计中，由于专利产权划分不合理与专利信息不对称，易发生专利权滥用的不经济性冲突现象。虽然企业通过采用专利联营战略应对这种冲突，但是该战略存在不足,因为始终无法解决专利权的私权行为。因此，建立企业间共同拥有专利产权的团体专利制度，有助于更好解决技术转化中不经济的冲突。文章通过经济学的相关理论构建团体专利合作模型，论证了该制度安排对企业专利发展及其利益分配的必要性和可行性，从而通过该制度的实践为我国专利成果的有效转化探索出一条新路径，同时，也为国家实现创新驱动经济发展质量水平的提升提供有效的专利制度支撑。     

技术标准创立中的专利引用网络研究

随着技术构成的复杂化,技术标准涉及的必要专利迅速膨胀,形成了重叠交织的专利群。以WCDMA标准及其必要专利为研究样本,采用Ucinet6.0软件,以中心度为测度指标,分析技术标准涉及的专利权人的专利引用网络。研究表明,专利权人之间存在紧密连接、高凝聚力的专利引用网络,少数专利权人对网络内专利引用关系具有控制作用,高被引专利权人是专利引用网络形成的基础,在技术标准创立过程中发挥着重要作用。     

专利池必要专利客观评估：技术进化中的适者生存

提出了一种面向技术进化的专利池必要专利客观评估方法，以克服现有的聘请第三方专家进行主观鉴定和评估的缺陷。效仿孟德尔遗传定律，采用技术遗传分解的方法，追踪技术的起源和演变。提出了技术适应指数的概念，衡量专利在技术进化中的适应能力。结合技术标准，对技术适应指数较高的适应性专利进行严格地甄别和筛选，以确保拟入池专利的必要性，保障专利权人和技术领域的“双赢”发展。以1873年至2002年美国专利商标局授权的燃料电池相关专利及其引证数据为样本，通过实证研究，评估了该领域的适应性专利。研究结果表明，无论从引证关系上看还是从专利内容上看，这些适应性专利都表征了燃料电池领域的技术发展情况，这与必要专利评估的中心思想：面向技术进化，是相符合的；这些适应性专利中某些技术要素是实现燃料电池相关技术标准功能指标或性能要求的重要手段和技术支撑，这些专利应该是“绕不开”的必要专利。     

基于专利地图的技术标准与技术专利关系研究

 技术专利与技术标准的日益融合是标准化领域的一个重要趋势,正深刻改变着标准竞争的规则。以GSM标准及其必要专利为研究样本,应用Aureka和TDA分析工具生成专利地图,进而揭示专利与标准的关系。研究表明,在核心技术领域申请专利,成为企业参与标准创立的重要手段;主要专利权人持有的必要专利,不仅为早期标准创立奠定了技术基础,而且决定着标准未来的技术发展方向;通过专利地图分析发现,标准涉及的主要专利权人倾向于结成战略联盟,使这些企业之间的技术具有强相关性。     

专利池必要专利客观评估：技术进化中的适者生存

提出了一种面向技术进化的专利池必要专利客观评估方法，以克服现有的聘请第三方专家进行主观鉴定和评估的缺陷。效仿孟德尔遗传定律，采用技术遗传分解的方法，追踪技术的起源和演变。提出了技术适应指数的概念，衡量专利在技术进化中的适应能力。结合技术标准，对技术适应指数较高的适应性专利进行严格地甄别和筛选，以确保拟入池专利的必要性，保障专利权人和技术领域的“双赢”发展。以1873年至2002年美国专利商标局授权的燃料电池相关专利及其引证数据为样本，通过实证研究，评估了该领域的适应性专利。研究结果表明，无论从引证关系上看还是从专利内容上看，这些适应性专利都表征了燃料电池领域的技术发展情况，这与必要专利评估的中心思想：面向技术进化，是相符合的；这些适应性专利中某些技术要素是实现燃料电池相关技术标准功能指标或性能要求的重要手段和技术支撑，这些专利应该是“绕不开”的必要专利。     

互补性专利联盟是否必要——一个基于讨价还价许可模式的新见解

由互补性专利形成的专利联盟能够克服“专利丛林”问题,提高纵向产业链的经济效率是对专利联盟的一般共识。这一论断是建立在古诺标价模型基础之上的。本文建立了更加符合现实的关于专利许可的两阶段讨价还价博弈模型,得出的结论是无论下游市场是完全竞争市场还是寡头垄断市场,都存在一个弱占优战略均衡。均衡时,产业链联合利润达到最大,且产出等于专利联盟进行联合许可的产出,而总许可价格比专利联盟时的许可价格更低。 这意味着由传统的古诺互补品问题而引发的“古诺效应”并不成立,互补性专利的交易并不需要通过专利联盟许可来克服专利许可交易中出现的所谓诸如“专利丛林”、“费用叠加”、“专利挟持”、“反公地悲剧”等问题。     

专利资源碎片化、反公地悲剧与政府治理

在专利资源碎片化的背景下，专利市场治理在专利成果转化、产业创新发展中的作用日益凸显。以美国航空产业专利市场治理案例为对象，通过博弈分析和案例论证，研究专利资源碎片化情境下的专利市场反公地悲剧及其政府治理机制。研究发现：专利资源碎片化导致专利市场交易成本负担过高，市场机制失效，出现专利市场反公地悲剧；政府通过强制交叉许可、价格管制等手段降低谈判成本、控制许可成本，促成专利池组建，有效治理专利市场失灵，避免反公地悲剧。     

Patent claims and patent scope

Patent scope is one of the important aspects in the debates over “patent quality.” The purported decrease in patent quality over the last decade or two has supposedly led to granting patents of increased breadth, decreased clarity, and questionable validity (in part due to over-breadth). Such patents allegedly diminish the incentives for innovation due to increased transaction costs in the market for technology, more frequent disputes and litigation, trolling behavior, and breakdowns in bargaining. This paper focuses on the patent examination process at the PTO, highlighting the relationship between patent scope and the patent examination process. We develop and validate two measurements of patent scope: independent claim length and independent claim count. These metrics—in contrast to other measurements of patent scope—can be calculated before and after examination and enable us to provide the first large-scale analysis of trends in patent scope changes during the examination process. Our results show that applications with narrower scope are associated with a higher probability of grant and a shorter and less intense examination period in comparison to applications with broader scope. Further, we find that the examination process itself tends to narrow the scope of patents relative to the scope at filing, and that the changes are more significant when the duration and intensity of examination is increased. We explain our metrics and make our data available in a public use dataset, which we hope will encourage more research in the evaluation of patent scope, patent examination, and patent quality more broadly.     

技术标准背景下的专利池演进及专利申请行为

在技术标准大量引用技术专利的背景下,标准联盟以专利池运营其拥有的技术专利,专利池在标准创立及产业化中扮演着日益重要的角色。以典型专利池为研究样本,定量分析专利池中的专利数量变化与专利申请行为;研究表明,专利池创立前后是专利申请的高峰期,这些专利绝大部分为专利池的发起人所控制。对专利引用进行泊松回归,揭示出专利池中的专利质量随时间推移逐步降低,在专利池演进过程中,发起人存在策略性的专利申请行为,倾向于将低价值专利"塞入"专利池中。     

Testing patent value indicators on directly observed patent value—An empirical analysis of Ocean Tomo patent auctions

The valuation of patents is an important, albeit challenging task. Extant research to identify patent value indicators has so far relied on expert estimates of patent value, exploited patent renewal data, or depended on more indirect measures of patent value. Recently, specialized market places for patent transactions have emerged that allow us for the first time to directly observe patent's private value. One of the most prominent market places for patents is Ocean Tomo, a platform that offers periodical patent auctions. We make use of this auction data to empirically test predictions on patent value identifiers on real-world auction prices. We find empirical support for forward citations and the patent's family size; however, both indicators explain only a small variance in patent value. In contrast, our full model explains a large share of variance, making us optimistic that with increased directly observed patent value, such models can be useful tools in patent valuation.     

专利联盟成员的专利许可投入决策研究

专利许可是企业专利战略中的最核心部分之一,专利联盟正不断涌现,专利联盟成员企业的独自专利许可投入决策是本文的研究问题。研究表明,联盟成员独自许可投入对联盟许可收益的影响、对自身其他专利收入的影响、对其他联盟成员收益的影响、联盟成员的联盟收益分配比例等,都会对最优独自许可投入产生影响。而联盟成员之间独自许可的替代影响不会对最优许可投入产生影响。     

技术标准中的企业专利战略:一个案例分析

专利战略的重要意义已经普遍得到认识,然而专利战略的实际制订和实施依然没有成熟的模式。技术标准是公司梦寐以求的目标,那是获得市场的法宝。通过对GSM技术标准形成的回顾以及摩托罗拉和诺基亚等公司的专利战略分析,指出作为技术标准中的主要专利持有者,可以充分的挖掘专利的直接价值和间接价值,保证市场份额的同时,能够延续在技术上的优势。作为技术标准中的新进入者,或者是后发企业,则可以通过专利收购等措施获得部分专利,进入标准,同时凭借专注和投入,积极学习和创新,实现赶超。     

论“专利劫持”的法律属性及其司法救济

标准必要专利是行业标准的必要技术,专利劫持产生的原因是专利与标准之间的利益冲突。专利权人不当申请禁令救济,破坏市场自由竞争,损害标准实施者合法利益。标准必要专利权人负有对外许可的义务,应当向所有标准实施者进行许可,而专利劫持却是一种违约行为。只有依据利益平衡的原则考虑签发禁令,确定标准必要专利的合理许可费,才能使标准专利的各方当事人对峙或冲突中走向相互协调,在法律规则的制定与完善中,实现司法禁令救济的正当性。     

序贯创新、创新阻塞与最优专利宽度

 通过构建一个包含多项初始专利技术的序贯研发模型讨论了序贯创新背景下最优专利宽度的设计原则,并在此基础上考察了专利宽度对创新阻塞的协调机制以及专利联盟的社会福利效应。在该模型中,专利宽度的调节不仅能够影响后续创新对初始专利技术的侵权概率,还可以改变现有专利技术的实际数量。研究表明,最优的专利宽度应当使事后专利许可下初始专利的期望许可价格等于诱使厂商进行初始研发的临界价格。这一专利宽度水平不仅可以为初始创新提供必要的激励,而且可以限制事前许可价格和事后许可的期望价格,从而缓解许可收费对后续研发决策的扭曲。由于专利联盟的联合利润最大化定价会阻碍专利宽度对事前专利许可定价的调节,因此专利联盟无法增进社会福利,反而可能会带来社会福利的净损失。     

标准必要专利FRAND原则的解释与适用

专利权人在向标准组织申请将其专利写入标准时,通常需要披露专利并遵循"公平、合理和非歧视(FRAND)"许可原则,但是FRAND原则充满模糊性。如何理解和适用FRAND原则直接关系到技术标准的推广和创新的激励。以我国近期发生的4起标准必要专利案件为例,分析我国如何解释与适用FRAND原则,以明确我国对标准必要专利许可的专利政策。