1. Patent Economics III Patent Portfolios & Cumulative Innovation Class Notes: April 15, 2003 Law 677 | Patent Law | Spring 2003 Professor Wagner

2. 04/15/032Law 677 | Spring 2003 Today’s Agenda 1.Course Evaluations (15-20 mins.) 2.Patent Portfolios & Cumulative Innovation

3. 04/15/033Law 677 | Spring 2003 The Role of Patents Does the empirical evidence bear out the theory of patent law? (Why or why not?) Consider the Hall & Zidedonis article: Why do they believe that big firms patent more (in the semiconductor industry)?Why do they believe that big firms patent more (in the semiconductor industry)? Is this bad?Is this bad?

4. 04/15/034Law 677 | Spring 2003 Cumulative Innovation What is ‘cumulative innovation’? Does it occur uniformly across industries/technologies? Is it good, bad, or just a policy consideration? What is the ‘double marginalization’ problem? How should the existence of cumulative innovation affect innovation policy: i.e., the patent law? Broader patents? Narrower patents? No patents? Other options?

5. 04/15/035Law 677 | Spring 2003 The Anticommons Problem What is the ‘anticommons’ problem? Do you agree that it is a concern? A general concern with patent law? A concern specific to certain circumstances? What can you do to avoid or reduce any anticommons problems? Weaken patents? Strengthen patents? Clarify patents? Does the Hall & Ziedonis article suggest one response to the anticommons?

6. 04/15/036Law 677 | Spring 2003 Next Class Patent Law Reform