Output Royalty Research Articles

Optimal Licensing Contract: The Implications of Preference Function

Our analysis provides a rationale for the existence of a positive fixed-fee and output royalty in the licensing contracts. In this article, we show that the preference functions play an important role in this respect. As the market expansion effect gets weaker, it reduces the possibility of a royalty-only contract, thus increasing the possibility of the co-existence of a positive fixed-fee and output royalty in the licensing contract. Our argument is different from the existing reasons based on imitation, number of firms, product differentiation and decreasing returns to scale. JEL: D21, D43, L13

Licensing a quality-enhancing innovation to an upstream firm

This paper examines the case where a patent holder who is not a producer licenses its quality-enhancing innovation to an upstream firm, which sells its product through a downstream monopoly. It is found that the patent holder prefers a two-part tariff contract, which includes both a fixed-fee and per-unit output royalty. However, the royalty included in the licensing contract makes each firm price at a markup over marginal cost and therefore makes both consumers and the society worse off, if the innovation is small and the supplier is weak. From a welfare perspective, licensing by means of an ad valorem tax is more efficient, as it allows the upstream firm to be less aggressive when trading with the downstream firm.

Optimal contract under brand name collaboration

In an international Cournot duopoly, we determine the optimal contract for a brand name collaboration where the contract consists of fixed-fee and output royalty. We show that the firms always have the incentive for brand name collaboration. However, whether the optimal contract will have positive fixed-fee and positive royalty is not immediate and it depends on the factors such as the transportation cost of exporting and the consumers' initial perception about the products of the firms reflected in the consumers' maximum willingness to pay for the products. Thus, our paper shows that the possibility of brand name collaboration is significantly more than predicted in the existing literature.

Patent Licensing from a High‐Cost Firm to a Low‐Cost Firm*

We depart from the standard framework and study optimal patent licensing under Cournot duopoly where the technology transfer takes place from an innovative firm, which is relatively inefficient in terms of cost of production, to its cost‐efficient rival. Interestingly, we find even a drastic technology is licensed and the optimal licensing arrangement always involves a two‐part tariff (i.e. a fixed‐fee plus a linear per unit output royalty). Under non‐drastic innovation, the two‐part tariff is optimal when the cost difference between the firms is moderate. Our framework also helps to bridge the gap between optimal licensing schemes for ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ patentees.

Licensing a new product: Fee vs. royalty licensing with unionized labor market

In an economy with unionized labor market, we show that the payoff of an outside innovator may be higher under royalty licensing than under fixed-fee licensing and auction, if bargaining power of the labor union is sufficiently high. This result holds for both decentralized and centralized bargaining. It follows from our analysis that a combination of fixed-fee and output royalty can be preferable to the innovator compared to both royalty only licensing and auction (or fixed-fee licensing). We discuss the implications of positive opportunity costs of the licensees.

FOREIGN COMPETITION WITH LICENSING*

We show the effects of entry of a foreign firm on domestic welfare in the presence of licensing. If the entrant is technologically inferior to the incumbent, foreign entry increases domestic welfare for intermediate (sufficiently large) technological differences between the firms under licensing with fixed fee (output royalty). If the entrant is technologically superior to the incumbent, foreign entry increases domestic welfare for sufficiently large technological differences between the firms under both fixed-fee licensing and royalty licensing.

Bertrand Vs. Cournot Competition in Asymmetric Duopoly: The Role of Licensing

This paper shows the possibility of higher welfare under Cournot competition in an asymmetric cost duopoly when the firms have the option for technology licensing. We find that if there is licensing with up-front fixed-fee, welfare is higher under Cournot competition compared to Bertrand competition when the initial cost difference of these firms is moderate; but, for very small or very large cost initial cost differences, welfare is higher under Bertrand competition. If licensing occurs with per-unit output royalty, welfare is always higher under Bertrand competition.

Welfare reducing licensing

In this paper, we characterize situations where licensing a cost reducing innovation to a rival firm using two-part tariff contracts (a fixed fee plus a linear per unit of output royalty) reduces social welfare. We show that it occurs if (i) the firms compete in prices, (ii) the innovation is large enough but not drastic, and (iii) the goods are close enough substitutes. Moreover, we show that, regardless of the type of competition, first, the optimal contract always includes a positive royalty and, second, even drastic innovations are licensed whenever the goods are not homogeneous.

R&D, Licensing and Patent Protection

This paper investigates the effect of different patent regimes on R&D investment and social welfare in a duopoly market with uncertain R&D process. We find that strong patent protection increases R&D investment of at least one firm but whether both firms' R&D investment will be more under strong patent protection is ambiguous. While ex-ante welfare is more likely to be higher under strong patent protection, ex-post welfare may be higher under strong patent protection. Whether the possibility of licensing increases both firms' R&D investment is also ambiguous. Licensing with up-front fixed-fee can increase policy dilemma by increasing the possibility of higher ex-ante welfare under strong patent protection but higher ex-post welfare under weak patent protection. However, the results may be different for licensing contract with per-unit output royalty.

Technology transfer in a horizontally differentiated product market

This paper considers technology transfer in a Cournot-duopoly market where the firms produce horizontally differentiated products. The patent licensing contract consists of up-front fixed fee and per-unit output royalty for products of neither close substitutes nor isolated. In case the goods are close substitutes then only per-unit output royalty is the optimal solution. However, whether the incentive for imitation increases with product differentiation is ambiguous. Further, in case of credible imitation threat, the relationship between better technology transfer and product differentiation may be ambiguous. We have briefly addressed the implications of multiple licensing.