Biography
Gaétan de Rassenfosse is Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy at EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, where he leads the STIP Lab. An economist specializing in innovation and intellectual property, he studies how patent systems shape technological progress, competition, and the commercialization of inventions.
His research on standard-essential patents (SEPs) examines the economic foundations of fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing and the valuation of patented technologies. His recent work critically assesses the use of comparable licenses in FRAND rate setting and explores how evidence on the value of 4G and 5G connectivity can inform royalty determinations. He has also published empirical research on discrimination against foreign applicants for standard-essential patents in China.
He serves as an expert witness in UK courts and works with patent offices, international organizations, and industry. He co-authored a study of patent fees commissioned by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and submitted to the U.S. Congress. His engagements also include research for the World Intellectual Property Organization.
His scholarship spans law, economics, and management, with publications in the Southern California Law Review, the Journal of Law and Economics, the Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Research Policy, and the Strategic Management Journal. Beyond SEPs, his work addresses patent quality, virtual patent marking, technology protectionism, and the implications of AI-generated inventions for the patent system. He also develops large-scale patent datasets and analytical tools to support empirical research and policy evaluation.
He writes The Patentist, which makes economic research on patents accessible to legal practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, and its SEP Edition, devoted to developments in standard-essential patent licensing and policy. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Université libre de Bruxelles and previously held research positions at the University of Melbourne.
