The Role of Patents in Information and Communication Technologies: A Survey of the Literature

Abstract

During the last few decades, the number of patents in information and communication technologies has increased considerably. An increasing number of patents and the associated fragmentation of IP rights have generated a series of potentially problematic consequences. Patent thickets, royalty stacking, the emergence of patent assertion entities, increased patent litigationparticularly around standard essential patents -and the difficulties with defining fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory licensing terms are some of the most debated issues in the literature that we review in this paper. We devote a specific section of our survey to patent quality, currently one of the most debated issues surrounding the patent system. In our analysis, we mix theoretical and empirical arguments with a more policy-oriented reasoning. This allows us to better position the different issues in the relevant political and economic context.

Producing and using artificial intelligence: What can Europe learn from Siemens’s experience?

“…6Summarizing multiple studies, Sampat (2018) concludes that the effects of patents on innovation incentives are highly sector-specific and that, except for pharmaceutical and chemical industries, patenting is not the most important appropriability mechanism to assure intellectual rents. Likewise, Comino et al (2019) reached the same outcome for ICT even if intellectual property rise are mounting in this field. Furthermore, big data in the hands of tech giants is kept secret and only 15% of the published papers in artificial intelligence disclose codes (Benaich and Hogarth, 2020).…”

Patent portfolios and firms’ technological choices

“…In recent years, several industries have experienced a surge in patenting activities (see Comino et al 2019). In high-tech sectors this has led to an increasing fragmentation in intellectual property rights and to the emergence of so-called patent thickets (Shapiro 2001).…”