A study on the emerging intermediates in the United States patent market

• Main Authors: Pengfei Lin, 林鵬飛
• Other Authors: Chung-Jen Cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/44068014889974118599

碩士 === 世新大學 === 智慧財產權研究所(含碩專班) === 100 === Patents have been traditionally used to prevent others from copying or imitating valuable technologies. During the past dacade, the market for patent licensing or transaction began to emerge and grow rapidly. However, patents are not as liquid as other assets, and an intermediary mechanism is highly demanded to facilitate patent transactions. Therefore a variety of novel and innovative intermediates are arising, all using different business models attempting to bring more liquidity to the patent market. RPX Corporation is one of these noticeable patent intermediate, and its business is generally regarded as a successful intermediary model. In this study, the result of patent analysis shows a considerable portion of RPX’s patents purchased from NPEs. This suggests a business model of RXP: it not only functions as a traditional intermediate to reduce the transaction costs, but also focuses on the reduction of expenditures for lawsuit. The value proposed by RPX is particularly attractive to both parties in a patent litigation. Despite the success of its model, RPX has been accused of criminal activities and antitrust conducts respectively, revealing that the practice of its business can possibly cause legal disputes.