Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
  • Research
    • Research
    • Publications
    • Global Research Centers
    • Case Development
    • Initiatives & Projects
    • Research Services
    • Seminars & Conferences
    →
  • Publications→

Publications

Publications

Filter Results: (34) Arrow Down
Filter Results: (34) Arrow Down Arrow Up

Show Results For

  • All HBS Web  (34)
    • News  (7)
    • Research  (24)
  • Faculty Publications  (15)

Show Results For

  • All HBS Web  (34)
    • News  (7)
    • Research  (24)
  • Faculty Publications  (15)
Page 1 of 34 Results →
  • Article

The Growing Problem of Patent Trolling

By: Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers
The last decade has seen a sharp rise in patent litigation in the U.S., with 2015 having one of the highest patent lawsuit counts on record. In theory, this could be a consequence of growth in the commercialization of technology and innovation—patent lawsuits increase... View Details
Keywords: Patent Aggregators; Patent Litigation; Patent Pools; Patent Trolls; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; United States
Citation
Find at Harvard
Purchase
Related
Cohen, Lauren, Umit Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers. "The Growing Problem of Patent Trolling." Science 352, no. 6285 (April 29, 2016): 521–522. (Explanatory Video.)
  • 2017
  • Working Paper

Patent Trolls and Small Business Employment

By: Ian Appel, Joan Farre-Mensa and Elena Simintzi
We analyze how frivolous patent-infringement claims made by “patent trolls” affect small firms’ ability to create jobs, raise capital, and survive. Our identification strategy exploits the staggered passage of anti-patent-troll laws at the state level. We find that the... View Details
Keywords: Patent Trolls; Patents; Small Business; Employment; Venture Capital
Citation
SSRN
Read Now
Related
Appel, Ian, Joan Farre-Mensa, and Elena Simintzi. "Patent Trolls and Small Business Employment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-072, February 2017.
  • February 2018
  • Background Note

Patent Trolling

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers and George Hou
The U.S. Intellectual Property (IP) Ecosystem is one of the most robust and dynamic in the world—and has been for centuries. The bedrock of this system is the "patent," a legal document that allows its holder exclusive commercialization rights of a part of the "idea... View Details
Keywords: Intellectual Property; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; United States
Citation
Educators
Purchase
Related
Cohen, Lauren H., Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers, and George Hou. "Patent Trolling." Harvard Business School Background Note 218-085, February 2018.
  • 29 Aug 2014
  • Working Paper Summaries

Patent Trolls

Keywords: by Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun & Scott Duke Kominers

    Patent Trolls

    We develop a theoretical model of, and provide the first large-sample evidence on, the behavior and impact of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual property space. Our model shows that NPE litigation can reduce infringement and support small inventors.... View Details

    • 20 Aug 2014
    • Research & Ideas

    Dragging Patent Trolls Into the Light

    future. A Lucrative Business Patent trolling can be a lucrative undertaking because of the ambiguous nature of intellectual property. "A patent View Details
    Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Legal Services
    • 28 Feb 2017
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Patent Trolls and Small-Business Employment

    Keywords: by Ian Appel, Joan Farre-Mensa, and Elena Simintzi
    • January 2019 (Revised May 2019)
    • Case

    When Trolls Attack: Carbonite vs. Oasis Research

    By: Lauren H. Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers and Sarah Mehta
    This case, set in October 2017, follows Danielle Sheer, general counsel for Carbonite, as she defends the company against claims of patent infringement. It provides a broad overview of the U.S. patent system and explores the impact that non-practicing entities... View Details
    Keywords: Patent Infringement Litigation; Non-practicing Entities; Patent Trolls; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Patents; Laws and Statutes; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; Boston
    Citation
    Educators
    Purchase
    Related
    Cohen, Lauren H., Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers, and Sarah Mehta. "When Trolls Attack: Carbonite vs. Oasis Research." Harvard Business School Case 219-001, January 2019. (Revised May 2019.)
    • December 2019
    • Article

    Patent Trolls: Evidence from Targeted Firms

    By: Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers
    We provide the first large-sample evidence on the behavior and impact of nonpracticing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual-property space. We find that, on average, NPEs appear to behave as opportunistic “patent trolls.” NPEs sue cash-rich firms and target cash in... View Details
    Keywords: Patent Trolls; Innovation; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ethics; Innovation and Invention
    Citation
    SSRN
    Find at Harvard
    Related
    Cohen, Lauren, Umit Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Patent Trolls: Evidence from Targeted Firms." Management Science 65, no. 12 (December 2019): 5461–5486. (Cited in the United States Federal Trade Commission Report on Patent Assertion Entities, 2016.)
    • Article

    "Troll" Check? A Proposal for Administrative Review of Patent Litigation

    By: Lauren Cohen, John Golden, Umit Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers
    The patent system is commonly justified as a way to promote social welfare and, more specifically, technological progress. For years, however, there has been concern that patent litigation is undermining, rather than furthering, these goals. Particularly in the United... View Details
    Keywords: Patent Trolls; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation
    Citation
    Read Now
    Related
    Cohen, Lauren, John Golden, Umit Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Troll" Check? A Proposal for Administrative Review of Patent Litigation. Boston University Law Review 97, no. 5 (October 2017): 1775–1841.
    • 2018
    • Working Paper

    Patent Trolls: Evidence from Targeted Firms

    By: Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers
    We provide the first large-sample evidence on the behavior and impact of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual property space. We find that on average, NPEs appear to behave as opportunistic “patent trolls.” NPEs sue cash-rich firms—and target cash in... View Details
    Keywords: Patent Trolls; NPEs; PAEs; Innovation; Patents; Ethics; Lawsuits and Litigation; Innovation and Invention; Corporate Finance
    Citation
    Read Now
    Related
    Cohen, Lauren, Umit G. Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Patent Trolls: Evidence from Targeted Firms." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-002, July 2014. (Revised June 2018.)
    • 2023
    • Other Article

    The Harvard USPTO Patent Dataset: A Large-Scale, Well-Structured, and Multi-Purpose Corpus of Patent Applications

    By: Mirac Suzgun, Luke Melas-Kyriazi, Suproteem K. Sarkar, Scott Duke Kominers and Stuart Shieber
    Innovation is a major driver of economic and social development, and information about many kinds of innovation is embedded in semi-structured data from patents and patent applications. Though the impact and novelty of innovations expressed in patent data are difficult... View Details
    Keywords: USPTO; Natural Language Processing; Classification; Summarization; Patent Novelty; Patent Trolls; Patent Enforceability; Patents; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science
    Citation
    Read Now
    Related
    Suzgun, Mirac, Luke Melas-Kyriazi, Suproteem K. Sarkar, Scott Duke Kominers, and Stuart Shieber. "The Harvard USPTO Patent Dataset: A Large-Scale, Well-Structured, and Multi-Purpose Corpus of Patent Applications." Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), Datasets and Benchmarks Track 36 (2023).
    • 28 Jun 2017
    • News

    Patent Trolling Isn’t Dead — It’s Just Moving to Delaware

    • 2017
    • Chapter

    Empirical Evidence on the Behavior and Impact of Patent Trolls: A Survey

    By: Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers
    We survey the empirical literature on non-practicing entity (NPE) litigation behavior and its consequences. We document both aggregate trends and cross-sectional differences amongst various types of NPEs. Survey evidence illustrates a number of ways in which NPEs can... View Details
    Keywords: Patent Trolls; NPEs; PAEs; Innovation; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Innovation and Invention
    Citation
    Find at Harvard
    Related
    Cohen, Lauren, Umit Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Empirical Evidence on the Behavior and Impact of Patent Trolls: A Survey." In Patent Assertion Entities and Competition Policy, edited by D. Daniel Sokol. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
    • 20 Aug 2014
    • News

    Dragging Patent Trolls Into the Light

    • 2016
    • Working Paper

    Patent Trolls and Small Business Employment

    By: Joan Farre-Mensa, Ian Appel and Elena Simintzi
    Citation
    SSRN
    Related
    Farre-Mensa, Joan, Ian Appel, and Elena Simintzi. "Patent Trolls and Small Business Employment." Working Paper, December 2016.
    • Article

    Patent Trolling Isn't Dead—It's Just Moving to Delaware

    By: Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers
    Citation
    Register to Read
    Related
    Cohen, Lauren, Umit G. Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Patent Trolling Isn't Dead—It's Just Moving to Delaware." Harvard Business Review (website) (June 28, 2017).
    • Article

    Congress Must Look Forward in Reining in Patent Trolls

    By: Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun and Scott Duke Kominers
    Citation
    Find at Harvard
    Purchase
    Related
    Cohen, Lauren, Umit G. Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Congress Must Look Forward in Reining in Patent Trolls." Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (May 28, 2015).
    • 20 Aug 2014
    • News

    Yes, patent trolls go out of their way to target rich companies

      Patent Trolls: Evidence and Proposed Solutions

       

      The Growing Problem of Patent Trolling • SCIENCE • VIDEO

      View Details

      • 1
      • 2
      • →
      ǁ
      Campus Map
      Harvard Business School
      Soldiers Field
      Boston, MA 02163
      →Map & Directions
      →More Contact Information
      • Make a Gift
      • Site Map
      • Jobs
      • Harvard University
      • Trademarks
      • Policies
      • Accessibility
      • Digital Accessibility
      Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.