Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

The Fallacy Of Defensive Protection For Traditional Knowledge, Margo A. Bagley

Faculty Articles

Proponents of databases as defensive protection posit that having sources of traditional knowledge easily accessible to, and searchable by, examiners during the prosecution process should minimize the grant of patents covering traditional knowledge, and avoid the problems such erroneously granted patents may produce. Some countries, such as India, which support an international sui generis positive protection instrument, also support the use of traditional knowledge databases, as the two approaches are not mutually exclusive. India's CSIR, which created and maintains the TKDL, asserts that the database has thwarted the grant of scores of patents in IP offices across the globe, although …

How Do The Social Benefits And Costs Of The Patent System Stack Up In Pharmaceuticals?, Daniel J. Gifford

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

This paper explores the workings of the patent system in the context of the generation of new pharmaceutical products. First it identifies the relevant characteristics of the patent system and its relation to the market. The paper concedes that, in general, the patent system is probably the best way of generating new technology, in substantial part because that system uses the market to provide both incentives and rewards. The paper also identifies downsides of this patent/market system: deadweight loss and the unresponsiveness of that patent/market system to the needs of the poor. The paper then explores the social costs and …

Empirical Evidence Of Drug Pricing Games - A Citizen's Pathway Gone Astray, Robin C. Feldman, Evan Frondorf, Andrew Cordova

Robin C Feldman

Patent Landscape Of Helminth Vaccines And Related Technologies, Jon R. Cavicchi, Stanley P. Kowalski, John Schroeder, Rayna Burke, Jillian Michaud-King

Law Faculty Scholarship

Executive Summary This report focuses on patent landscape analysis of technologies related to vaccines targeting parasitic worms, also known as helminths. These technologies include methods of formulating vaccines, methods of producing of subunits, the composition of complete vaccines, and other technologies that have the potential to aid in a global response to this pathogen. The purpose of this patent landscape study was to search, identify, and categorize patent documents that are relevant to the development of vaccines that can efficiently promote the development of protective immunity against helminths. The search strategy used keywords which the team felt would be general …

Whose Body Is It Anyway? Human Cells And The Strange Effects Of Property And Intellectual Property Law, Robin C. Feldman

Robin C Feldman

The Intellectual Property Landscape For Ips Cells, Robin C. Feldman

Robin C Feldman

Bayer Ag V. Housey Pharmaceuticals: Protection For Biotechnological Research Tools Under Section 271(G) Found Wanting, Matthew Barthalow

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "Research tools, a subset of biotechnological inventions protected by process patents, are “tools that scientists use in the laboratory, including cell lines, monoclonal antibodies, reagents, animal models, growth factors, combinatorial chemistry and DNA libraries, clones and cloning tools (such as PCR), methods, laboratory equipment and machines.” Many companies base their business models on the ability to find pharmaceutical products using their proprietary drug discovery research tools. Research tools used for drug discovery ‘include bioinformatic methods for identifying the interaction of certain proteins and their association with disease, methods for confirming protein targets, screening assays to identify molecules active against …

Patently Unconstitutional: The Geographical Limitation On Prior Art In A Small World, Margo A. Bagley

Faculty Articles

Part I of this Article provides an overview of § 102 of the Patent Act, the role of prior art in the patentability analysis, and the origin of the limitation on relevant non-patent, nonpublished art to that existing "in this country." Part II then analyzes the constitutional deficiency of the limitation in light of the express and implied purposes of the Intellectual Property Clause as informed by judicial decisions, technological changes, global contraction, and expanded notions of inventive research sources. Policy concerns are the focus of Part III, which discusses how § 102's geographical limitation facilitates forms of "biopiracy," conflicts …

Golden Rice: A Case Study In Intellectual Property Management And International Capacity Building, Stanley P. Kowalski, R. David Kryder

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors examine the management of risks associated with intellectual property linked to agri-biotech products, with emphasis on the international movement of agri-biotech intellectual property from industrialized to developing nations.

Impact Of The Human Genome Project At The Interface Between Patent And Fda Laws, Brian C. Cunningham

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Mr. Cunningham stresses the broad scope of biotechnological innovations. Besides endorsing the need for a new oversight commission to deal with potential social issues, he suggests, for example, that some products should be treated like biologics rather than new drugs.

Development Of Vaccines To Meet Public Health Needs: Incentives And Obstacles, Phillip K. Russell

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Russell explains how such matters as high 'costs of regulation, lack of an effective plan for delivery (particularly abroad) and politics can interfere with providing globally needed vaccines.

Biotechnology Process Patents: Is Special Legislation Needed?, Timothy P. Linkkila, Timothy E. Tracy

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors review administrative and court decisions prompting proposed changes to the patent law. After reviewing pros and cons, they argue that, on balance, pending bills can easily cause more problems than they solve.

Overview Of Potential Intellectual Property Protection For Biotechnology, Kate H. Murashige

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Murashige compares the function and value of copyright, patent and trade secret laws in recovering investments in developing genome-related biotechnology.

Technology Transfer And The Genome Project: Problems With Patenting Research Tools, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Eisenberg argues against a system providing for federally-sponsored inventions to be patented if any associated person so desires. She believes that the system does not adequately weigh the possibility that the greatest social return from genome research will require some discoveries to be in the public domain.

[Introduction] The Science Court Is Dead - Long Live The Science Court, Thomas G. Field

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

[Excerpt] "It is a pleasure to introduce this symposium issue with its range of current thoughts about what Arthur Kantrowitz invented a little over twenty-five years ago and has since come to be known as the "Science Court." The pleasure is enhanced by being able to include papers by Dr. Kantrowitz, Allan Mazur (who worked closely with him), Carl Cranor, Itzhak Jacoby and Sheila Jasanoff - as well as an extensive list of citations to other discussions. In approaching these papers, readers may find it helpful to consider what Kantrowitz invented, he and others have attempted to improve, and the …