Maurer School of Law: Indiana University Digital Repository @ Maurer Law Articles by Maurer Faculty Faculty Scholarship 2018 Patent Pool Outsiders Michael Mattioli Indiana University Maurer School of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub Part of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons, and the Intellectual Property Law Commons Recommended Citation Mattioli, Michael, "Patent Pool Outsiders" (2018). Articles by Maurer Faculty. 2676. https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facpub/2676 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by Maurer Faculty by an authorized administrator of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. MATTIOLI_FINALFORMAT_06-24-18 (DO NOT DELETE) 6/24/2018 6:22 PM PATENT POOL OUTSIDERS Michael Mattioli† ABSTRACT Individuals who decline to join cooperative groups—outsiders—raise concerns in many areas of law and policy. From trade policy to climate agreements to class action procedures, the fundamental concern is the same: a single member of the group who drops out could weaken the remaining union. This Article analyzes the outsider problem as it affects patents. The outsider phenomenon has important bearing on patent and antitrust policy. By centralizing and simplifying complex patent licensing deals, patent pools conserve tremendous transaction costs. This allows for the widespread production and competitive sale of many useful technologies, particularly in the consumer electronics industry. Because these transaction-cost savings appear to outweigh the most common competition-related concerns raised by patent pools, antitrust authorities generally view these private groups favorably.