Patenting Strategies and Characteristics of Declared Inventions in the Long Term Evolution Standard

Federico Caviggioli, Polytechnic University of Turin - Department of Management and Production Engineering (DIGEP), Antonio de Marco, Polytechnic University of Turin - Department of Management and Production Engineering (DIGEP), Francesco Rogo, Finmeccanica SpA, and Guiseppe Scellato, Polytechnic University of Turin - Department of Production Systems and Business Economics (DISPEA)

8/26/2015
(Original Publish Date: 8/26/2013)

This study provides an empirical analysis of patent declarations at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) concerning the core releases of the Long Term Evolution standard for mobile communications. The paper builds on recent contributions that have analyzed strategic patent filing behaviors of firms in the context of standard setting process in the telecommunication sector. We find that the distribution of essential inventions across firms appears less concentrated than in previous mobile standard generations, mainly due to the entry of new global players in the field. The data reveals substantial heterogeneity in the strategies adopted by companies with respect to the timing of filing of patents then claimed as essential for the standard. Some companies seem to strategically postpone the application of patents -- relying on industrial secrecy -- while observing the evolution of the standard setting process. The comparison of declared patents with a control sample of non-declared reveals that on average the former relate to more radical, complex and science-based inventions. Moreover, patents filed in the later phases of the consolidation of the standard tend to show a narrower technological scope and are less likely to have joint assignment.