Harmful Unbundling

Companies have been unbundling their products: they have been selling products and services separately that were traditionally sold together. In doing so, they have raised their profits. This paper uses a model to show how companies can use unbundling to increase profits and decrease competition. Unbundling raises problems when it increases information cost, information asymmetry, and barriers to entry. This paper also discusses the U.S. case law that has grasped with these issues of bundling and unbundling

Dual Enforcement of Electric Utility Mergers and Acquisitions

Article published in the Michigan State Journal of Business and Securities Law

(Anti)Competitive Football Leagues

This Article discusses recent decisions from the European Court of Justice dealing with football (soccer) leagues and their governing bodies. Governing bodies adopt a number of rules allegedly necessary for the good functioning of their leagues. However, many of these rules violate the competition laws. One way to circumvent competition scrutiny is through multi-club ownership. This business model may become more attractive given these recent decisions. This business model may, however, deplete the trust we have in sport competitions. More effective merger regulation may well be the last savior of sporting competition

Who Holds the Right to Exclude for Machine Work Products?

This article investigates whether the inventions and works created by Artificial Intelligence should be patentable and copyrightable and if so, who should be assigned these rights. This article uses US case law and incentive economics to answer these questions. This article discusses who of the machine, its creators, owners, or operators should be assigned the rights to exclude others if policymakers want to promote the progress of science and useful arts. All four candidates raise legal problems. Based on current law, the users may be able to patent their invention but other works would fall into the public domain. Assigning exclusion rights to any party distorts the incentives of the other parties. The Intellectual Property system is maladapted to deal with these intelligent machines. Instead, these inventions and works should fall into the public domain. The four candidates can use alternative business models to profit from the machine’s creations

Spotting Software Innovation in a Patent Assertion Entity World

This paper looks at the relationship between venture capital (VC) funds and patent assertion entities (PAEs). These two types of entities rely heavily on patents most particularly in the software industry. The paper analyzes this relationship and argues that VC funds have fed into the PAE phenomenon. This paper also argues that PAEs have impacted how VCs behave. It offers an empirical analysis and finds that as PAEs became more active, VCs provided more funds to the companies they backed. This paper closes by discussing what VCs have done and could do to address PAEs and their activities

Harmful Unbundling

Companies have been unbundling their product: they have been selling separately products and services that were traditionally sold together.  In doing so, they have raised their profits.  This paper uses a model to show how companies can use unbundling to increase profits and decrease competition.  Unbundling raises problems when it increases information cost, information asymmetry, and barriers to entry.  This paper also discusses the US case laws that have grasped with these issues of bundling and unbundling