EPRG 0931

Ilian Iliev & Karsten Neuhoff

Intellectual Property: Cross-licensing, Patent Pools and Cooperative Standards as a Channel for Climate Change Technology Cooperation

EPRG 0931 Non-Technical Summary | PDF

Also published in:

• Iliev, I. and Neuhoff, K., (2009), “Intellectual property: Cross-licensing, Patent Pools and Cooperative Standards as a Channel for Climate Change Technology Cooperation”. Climate Strategies Paper: September

Abstract:  This paper focuses on an additional dimension that is always present when technology cooperation is discussed in political terms – or for that matter explored in industry or academic environments: the question Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) IPRs are seen by one group of stakeholders as potentially inhibiting or slowing down technology transfer and technology diffusion rates through exorbitant licensing rates, high information and negotiation costs for obtaining technologies, and even deliberately strategically blocking of the use of technologies by patent owners. Another group of stakeholders points to the role of patents in incentivising innovation, ensuring that firms’ R&D investments receive adequate return on investment, thus ensuring commercial deployment of existing technologies and incentivising future investments. We take a fact-based approach by exploring how in practice industries have dealt with IPRs, and explore the linkage between different IPR strategies with broader industry business models that have worked well in stimulating innovation and technology diffusion in other industries

Keywords: Intellectual property,technology