
Michael Meurer
Professor of Law
Abraham and Lillian Benton Scholar
SB in Economics and Interdisciplinary Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JD cum laude, University of Minnesota
PhD in Economics, University of Minnesota
Biography
The son of an economics professor, Michael Meurer knew by the time he was 13 that he, too, wanted to teach at the university level. An SB, JD and PhD later, he became an economics professor at Duke University and later a law professor at the University of Buffalo. He came to Boston University School of Law in 1999, where he has taught courses in patents, intellectual property and public policy toward the high-tech industry. “It’s a special privilege to be able to speak three times a week to an attentive and thoughtful audience,” he says.
Professor Meurer has received several grants and fellowships, including two grants from the Pew Charitable Trust, a Ford Foundation grant, an Olin Faculty Fellowship at Yale Law School and a postdoctoral fellowship at AT&T Bell Labs. He has served as an expert witness for the Federal Trade Commission on a merger case presenting issues related to patent licensing. He also has consulted with government officials from developing countries about antitrust law, and taught short courses in American intellectual property law at the law faculties of the University of Victoria and the National University of Singapore. “I’m excited by the prospect of having a positive influence on American technology law and policy,” Professor Meurer says. Outside of work, he enjoys playing and watching basketball.
- Profile Types
- Faculty, Full-Time Faculty, and Professors & Clinical Instructors
- Areas of Interest
- Economics & Law and Intellectual Property
- Profiles
- Michael J. Meurer
Publications
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Peter Menell, Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Nonpatentability of Business Methods: Legal and Economic Analysis Nonpatentability of Business Methods: Legal and Economic Analysis (2022)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Ben Depoorter, Price Discrimination & Intellectual Property No. 18-26 Boston University School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper (2018)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer, William Kovacic & Robert Marshall, Serial Collusion by Multi-Product Firms No. 18-18 Boston University School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper (2018)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Allocating Patent Litigation Risk Across the Supply Chain 18-02 Boston University School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper Series (2018)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Bargaining Failure and Failure to Bargain 96 Boston University Law Review (2016)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Current Issues in Patent Law and Policy 39 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy (2016)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Patent Search and Cumulative Innovation, in Perspectives on Patentable Subject Matter (Michael B. Abramowicz, James E. Daily, F. Scott Kieff,2014)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Peter Menell, Notice Failure and Notice Externalities 5 Journal of Legal Analysis (2013)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & James Bessen, The Direct Costs from NPE Disputes No. 12-34 Boston University School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper Series (2012)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer, James Bessen & Jennifer Ford, The Private and Social Costs of Patent Trolls 34 Regulation (2012)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Patent Litigation, Licensing, Nonobviousness, and Antitrust, in 4 Encyclopedia of Law and Economics (Keith N. Hylton,2010)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Patent Examination Priorities 51 William and Mary Law Review (2009)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & James Bessen, Patent Failure: How Judges, Bureaucrats, and Lawyers Put Innovators at Risk (2009)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Of Patents and Property 31 Regulation (2009)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Patent Carrots and Sticks: A Model of Nonobviousness 12 Lewis & Clark Law Review (2008)
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James Bessen, Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Patent Litigation with Endogenous Disputes 96 American Economic Review (2006)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Craig Allen Nard, Invention, Refinement and Patent Claim Scope: A New Perspective on the Doctrine of Equivalents 93 The Georgetown Law Journal (2005)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Craig Allen Nard, Patent Policy Adrift in a Sea of Anecdote: A Reply to Lichtman 93 The Georgetown Law Journal (2005)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Craig Allen Nard, Patent Policy Adrift in a Sea of Anecdote: A Reply to Lichtman 93 Geeorgetown Law Journal (2005)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Lessons for Patent Policy from Empirical Research on Patent Litigation 9 Lewis and Clark Law Review (2005)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Invention, Refinement and Patent Claim Scope: A New Perspective on the Doctrine of Equivalents 93 Georgetown Law Journal (2005)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Too Many Markets or Too Few? Copyright Policy Toward Shared Works 77 Southern California law review (2004)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Law, Economics, and the Theory of the Firm 52 Buffalo Law Review (2004)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Bidder Collusion and Antitrust Law: Refining the Analysis of Price Fixing to Account for the Special Features of Auction Markets 72 Antitrust Law Journal (2004)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Controlling Opportunistic and Anti-Competitive Intellectual Property Litigation 44 Boston College Law Review (2003)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Vertical Restraints and Intellectual Property Law: Beyond Antitrust 87 Minnesota Law Review (2003)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Business Method Patents and Patent Floods 8 Washington University Journal of Law and Policy (2002)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Copyright Law and Price Discrimination 23 Cardozo Law Review (2001)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, The Economics of Auctions and Bidder Collusion, in Game Theory and Business Applications (Kalyan Chatterjee, William F. Samuelson,2001)
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Michael Baram, Ashley Stevens, Thomas Meyers, Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Symposium: Patent Rights and Licensing, 6 Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law (2000)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Fair Division 47 Buffalo Law Review (1999)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer, Jean-Francois Richard & Stromquist Walter, Numerical Analysis of Asymmetric First Price Auctions 7 Games and Economic Behavior (1994)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Jean-Francois Richard, Curbing Agency Problems in the Procurement Process by Protest Oversight 25 The RAND Journal of Economics (1994)
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Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer, Dale Stahl & Dale O. Stahl, Informative Advertising and Product Match 12 International Journal of Industrial Organization (1994)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Jean-Francois Richard, Litigation Settlement and Collusion 109 The Quarterly Journal of Economics (1994)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Jean-Francois Richard, Multiple Litigants with a Public Good Remedy 16 Research in Law and Economics (1994)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Jean-Francois Richard, Incentive-Based Procurement Oversight by Protest, in Incentives in Procurement Contracting (Jim Leitzel; Jean Tirole,1993)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, The Gains from Faith in an Unfaithful Agent: Settlement Conflicts Between Defendants and Liability Insurers 8 Journal of Law, Economics and Organization (1992)
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Robert Marshall, Michael Meurer, Michael J. Meurer & Jean-Francois Richard, The Private Attorney General Meets Public Contract Law: Procurement Oversight by Protest 20 Hofstra Law Review (1991)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, The Settlement of Patent Litigation 20 The RAND Journal of Economics (1989)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Foreword: The Economics of Contract Law 52 Law and Contemporary Problems (1989)
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Kenneth Chapman, Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, Efficient Remedies for Breach of Warranty 52 Law and Contemporary Problems (1989)
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Michael Meurer & Michael J. Meurer, An Economic Analysis of Royalty Terms in Patent Licenses 67 Minnesota Law Review (1983)
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In the Media
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Marketplace June 16, 2022
Delays Skew Patent System in Favor of Big Corporations, Some Inventors Say
Mike Meurer is quoted.
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Longview News-Journal February 10, 2022
Famed Alzheimer’s Researcher John Hardy Is a Knight … but Not in Shining Armor
James Bessen and Michael Meurer are quoted.
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LLM Guide November 12, 2021
Thriving Patent Law Expands Post-LL.M. Career Opportunities
Michael Meurer
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Competition Policy International June 9, 2021
Patents and Price Fixing by Serial Colluders
A piece co-authored by Michael J. Meurer.
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The Conversation March 18, 2021
Patent System Often Stifles the Innovation It was Designed to Encourage
A piece co-authored by Michael Meurer.
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Stories from The Record


Intellectual Property Scholars Examine Competition Policy, History of Patents
August 10, 2018
Visiting Scholars Enrich BU Law’s Technology & Policy Research Initiative
May 4, 2018
BU Law Technology & Policy Research Initiative Hosts Intellectual Property Conference
August 29, 2017
BU Law School Research Initiative to Focus on Technology’s Impact on Society’s Well Being
June 14, 2017
A Happy Marriage of Interests
May 24, 2017BU Law Professors Impact Local Patent Troll Legislation
March 17, 2017