Imagine a computer chip composed of millions of transistors and hundredsor even thousands of individually patented inventions. Could just one of thosepatented components ever account for the entire economic value of the chip?Could just one such invention ever account for the entire value of a totalpersonal computer system— monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, software, andall—sold along with the chip? While these questions may seem far-fetched,they may soon be answered in the affirmative under a U.S. patent law doctrineknown as the “entire market value rule.”