Innovation is very important for economic growth and, often, small start-ups are a key generator of innovation. For this, access to patents is essential for innovative start-ups. However, a few dominant companies often hold these patents in a market field and refuse to license their technology to others, as MONIKA SCHNITZER explains in this video. She has investigated whether antitrust measures, such as compulsory licensing, are an effective tool to deal with this problem. Using the 1956 consent decree as a case study, her team examined whether the compulsory licensing measures imposed on the Bell System – a monopolistic provider of telecommunications services in the United States in the 1950s – promoted follow-on innovation. Indeed, the researchers found that it worked in fields outside of telecommunications, but not so much inside Bell’s own market field. Analyzing the reasons for this, this empirical study demonstrates that compulsory licensing can be an effective antitrust remedy under certain conditions.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10528
Institution
Ludwig Maximilian University Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
"LMU Munich is one of the leading universities in Europe. Carrying on a tradition that goes back over 500 years, LMU offers challenging study programs and provides an ideal environment for top-level research. "Introducing LMU" gives an insight into learning and teaching as well as research and life at LMU." ( Source )
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Original publication
How Antitrust Enforcement Can Spur Innovation: Bell Labs and the 1956 Consent Decree
CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP11793
Published in 2017
Beyond
A Personal Reading Recommendation