Figure 1.

Comparative illustration of the different licenses needed in the absence (a) or presence (b) of a patent pool. P1–P4 represents the patent holders. L1–L4 represents the licensees. In the absence of a patent pool, licensees have to enter into negotiations with all the patent holders, which is a time consuming and expensive process. By contrast, in the presence of a patent pool licensees turn to the patent pool for acquiring the rights as one package, which results in simplification and a significant reduction of transaction costs.