Law Commons^™

Reviving The Gatekeeping Function: Optimizing The Exclusion Potential Of Subject Matter Eligibility, Maayan Filmar-Perel

maayan filmar

Today, many patents that fail the constitutional mandate “[to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” are issued. Patents are granted irrespective of whether they are actually needed to incentivize innovation.

Consequently, many patent grants fail to reflect an appropriate balance between the ex post costs of short-term monopoly and the benefits of higher ex ante incentives to innovate. Other patents are issued without having any prospected commercial use, so no one actually makes an economically beneficial use of them. The worst of these are those that are sought solely for the purpose of initiating infringement lawsuits and extorting …

Reviving The Gatekeeping Function, Maayan Filmar-Perel

maayan filmar

Today, many patents that fail the constitutional mandate “[to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” are issued. Patents are granted irrespective of whether they are actually needed to incentivize innovation.

Consequently, many patent grants fail to reflect an appropriate balance between the ex post costs of short-term monopoly and the benefits of higher ex ante incentives to innovate. Other patents are issued without having any prospected commercial use, so no one actually makes an economically beneficial use of them. The worst of these are those that are sought solely for the purpose of initiating infringement lawsuits and extorting …

Reviving The Gatekeeping Function, Maayan Filmar-Perel

maayan filmar

Today, many patents that fail the constitutional mandate “[to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” are issued. Patents are granted irrespective of whether they are actually needed to incentivize innovation.

Consequently, many patent grants fail to reflect an appropriate balance between the ex post costs of short-term monopoly and the benefits of higher ex ante incentives to innovate. Other patents are issued without having any prospected commercial use, so no one actually makes an economically beneficial use of them. The worst of these are those that are sought solely for the purpose of initiating infringement lawsuits and extorting …

A Treaty Of Versailles - How Microsoft Wants To, And How They Could, End The Patent War, Andrew Pierz

Andrew Pierz

Android began as a project by Andy Rubin after developing the Sidekick. The project was soon acquired by Google and licensed as open-source technology for third parties, like Samsung and HTC, to use in their phones. After Microsoft fell in mobile market share, they began to pursue aggressive litigation and licensing deals. Google, after pledging to defend their manufacturing partners, announced they would acquire Motorola Mobility for their patent portfolio. The paper will explore the history of Android and Windows Mobile, the extent of Microsoft’s mobile patent portfolio, the structure of Microsoft’s various deals, the planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility …

Patent Chokepoints In The Influenza-Related Medicines Industry: Can Patent Pools Provide Balanced Access?, Dana Beldiman

Dana Beldiman

This paper illustrates the fact that when biological materials are used for development of pharmaceuticals, the patent system may function sub-optimally and may give rise to patent “thickets” and “anti-commons” which prevent commercialization of adequate amounts of product. These circumstances include inventions based on the same biological resource, patenting of largely similar functionalities, gene patents and patents that are narrow and fragmented. As a result, in order to obtain freedom to operate, drug developers must license-in multiple patents, often from competitors. This situation gives rise to uncertainty and is prone to hold-outs. The number of players actually developing drugs is …

Transcending The Tacit Dimension: Patents, Relationships, And The Industrial Organization Of Technology Transfer, Peter Lee

Peter Lee

As a key driver of innovation and economic growth, university-industry technology transfer has attracted significant attention. Formal technology transfer, which encompasses patenting and licensing university inventions, is often characterized as proceeding according to market principles. According to this dominant conception, patents help commodify academic inventions, which universities then advertise and transfer to private firms in licensing markets.

This Article challenges and refines this market-oriented view of technology transfer. Drawing from empirical studies, it shows that effective technology transfer often involves long-term personal relationships rather than discrete market exchanges. In particular, it explores the significant role of tacit, uncodified knowledge in …

Settlement Of India/Eu Wto Dispute Re Seizures Of In-Transit Medicines: Why The Proposed Eu Border Regulation Isn't Good Enough, Brook Baker

Brook K. Baker

European Customs officials have used fictive patent rights to justify the seizure of lawful generic medicines produced in India and destined for non- European markets. Following a public outcry and initiation of two WTO complaints, the EU has proposed amendments to Border Regulations Measure 1383/2003. The Proposed Border Regulation in its current form will not adequately resolve the risk of interception in Europe of medicines lawfully manufactured and exported from India and destined for lawful import and consumption in a non-EU country. This analysis concludes that multiple weaknesses remain in the Border Regulations, including: (1) continued coverage of alleged patent …

Some Reflections On Method And Policy In The Crowded House Of European Patent Law And Their Implications For India, Justine Pila

Justine Pila

This article considers the appropriate method for assessing substantive principles of European patent law, including limits on European patentability. In the argument made, European patent law is a crowded house in which “substantive convergence” around principles is inevitable but unsatisfactory: it will generally be the product of complex institutional dynamics as much as principled policy making, and in the absence of unified methodology and values will fail to ensure coherence or consistency within the European patent system. The implications of this argument with respect to India are then considered, and some reflections offered regarding India's experience of patent law harmonization …