Exploring the patent thicket problem: a literature review

A patent has been described in literature as a tool to promote innovation and an instrument used by inventors to obtain exclusive rights to make, use, sell, and import their discoveries for a certain period of time. In 2012, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) estimated that 2.35 million patent applications were filed around the world, which represented a growth of 9.2% compared to the previous year. For the WIPO, this was the highest rate that has been recorded in 18 years. The increasing number of patent filings has exerted tremendous pressure on patent offices to speed up the examination process, force examiners to spend less time reviewing patents, and possibly overlook the creation of fragmented and overlapping patent rights. The aim of this paper is to present a literature review on patent thickets, which are argued to create and nourish conflicting patent claims, friction between different technological industries and have an adverse effect on innovation. The paper ends with conclusions and a brief description of further research.