IP disassembly and IP modularity

Question 1

IP assembly
problem

Answer 1

The problem of acquiring and integrating the necessary technologies and their associated IPRs and licenses (or equivalents) from various owners in order to ensure freedom to operate for a company, business unit, or project entity.

Question 2

What is meant by that patents are ‘negative rights’?

Answer 2

A patent is “a legal title granting its holder the right
to prevent third parties from commercially exploiting
an invention without authorization”.

Question 3

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 3

Overuse of scarce, rivalrous, and non-excludable resources due to the absence of exclusionary rights and owner control.

Question 4

Tragedy of the anticommons

Answer 4

Underuse of resources due to the presence of too many exclusionary rights and right owners.

Question 5

IP disassembly problem

Answer 5

The problem of finding an explicit or implicit contractual arrangement for allocation of IPRs and licenses that allows for seperating and disintegrating a company, business unit, project entity, resource set, or IP in order to enable a transaction, organisational transfer or dissolution of it.

Question 6

What can governments, industries and firms do to prevent problems like/related to the “tragedy of the anticommons”?

Answer 6

patent pools
- e.g. aircrafts in the US)

compulsory licensing
- not common
- but some countries have it, e.g. India
- rigouros process
- the licensor can fight back

FRAND licensing

open innovation

Question 7

IP incompatibility

Answer 7

IP incompatibility arises when two system elements can’t be combined or used together due to conflicting IP rules, ownership, or licenses—like trying to fit puzzle pieces together that belong to different sets with different rules.

Question 8

IP-modular system” architecture

Answer 8

We define an “IP-modular system” architecture as one in which the boundaries of parts with different IP status coincide with the technical boundaries of modules.

Question 9

When not to divide IP

Answer 9

Sometimes you want the opposite – protect weak IP by combining it with strong IP (e.g. razors and blades).

Question 10

Why is the IP disassembly problem increasing in severity and frequency?

Answer 10

• More corporate transactions and mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
• New technologies and services more and more based on many
  technologies
• Stricter and new laws for protecting IP and new types of assets
• More collaborative and open innovation

Question 11

How can you handle the IP disassembly problem?

Answer 11

the problem is typically manageable by structuring the IP portfolio and setting up ex ante separation agreements (or clauses)