Abstract: By segmenting green consumer and primary consumer, the effect of patent protection on closed-loop supply chain where OEM competes with an independent remanufacturer is studied. By establishing supply chain pricing models with and without patent protection fee, optimal pricing strategy and optimal protection fee decision strategy are derived. Comparison is made between the two different models. By using numerical simulation, the impacts of the degree of primary consumer acceptance to remanufactured products, the impacts of the green consumer share on the optimal price, profit, and patent protection fee are analyzed, respectively.

Key words: patent licensing, optimal pricing, remanufacturer