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15 UCLA J.L. & Tech. 1 (2011)

handle is hein.journals/ujlt15 and id is 1 raw text is: Spring 2011 www.lawtechjournal.com Volume 15, Issue 1 UCLA Journal of Law & Technology PROGRESS IN THE AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY AND THE ROLE OF PATENT POOLS AND CROSS-LICENSING AGREEMENTS Dustin R. Szakalski This paper explores the challenges that widely dispersed property rights-a so- called tragedy of the anticommons -has presented to the aircraft industry in the past and suggests that patent pools and cross-licensing agreements are appropriate private mechanisms the industry can use to resolve such challenges in the future. The Manufacturers Aircraft Association (MAA), a patent pool formed among aircraft manufacturers at the insistence of the Secretary of War prior to World War I, provides both the historical foundation for aircraft patent pools and a baseline model for the resolution of future obstacles facing the aircraft industry. This paper suggests that a properly structured modern-day aircraft patent pool should incorporate many of the features of the Manufacturers Aircraft Association-including open availability to all industry firms and a unanimously approved royalty-rate structure-in order to provide the broadest and most cost-efficient access to valuable aircraft patents while simultaneously encouraging the member firms to compete in the marketplace. 1