@article{42074,
      author = {Bessen, James E. and Meurer, Michael J. and Ford, Jennifer  Laurissa},
      url = {http://tind.wipo.int/record/42074},
      title = {The Private and Social Costs of Patent Trolls},
      abstract = {In the past, “non-practicing entities” (NPEs),  popularly known as “patent trolls,” have helped small  inventors profit from their inventions. Is this true today  or, given the unprecedented levels of NPE litigation, do  NPEs reduce innovation incentives? Using a survey of  defendants and a database of litigation, this paper  estimates the direct costs to defendants arising from NPE  patent assertions. We estimate that firms accrued $29  billion of direct costs in 2011. Although large firms  accrued over half of direct costs, most of the defendants  were small or medium-sized firms. Moreover, an examination  of publicly listed NPEs indicates that little of the direct  costs represents a transfer to small inventors. This  updated version of the paper includes a reply to critics.},
      recid = {42074},
      pages = {35 pages},
}