Motives And Functions Of Patenting In Public Basic Science

Taking German public basic research as an example, this book explores how the ongoing implementation of knowledge and technology transfer as the Third Mission of academic science creates not only new incentives for academic patenting, but also triggers new patenting motives and strategies of researchers and organizations. Analyzing these motives and strategies, the book highlights how the complex regulatory interplay of the patent system, research policy and self-governed academic communities creates a situation in which new patent functions emerge: beyond their intended function as a protection for upstream inventions, patents become a signaling device for scientists to communicate their commitment and competence in the Third Mission. As an exploratory study, this book combines qualitative empirical research with concepts and insights from multiple fields such as economics, law, political sciences and regulation. In consequence, the book addresses anyone interested in patenting incentives and motives and their impact on the functional change and regulatory effectiveness of patents in polycentric regulatory environments. About the author: With a background in institutional economics and philosophy of science, Michael Neumann joined the DFG graduate school on "Intellectual Property and the Public Domain" and the MPI for Innovation and Competition to write this doctoral thesis. He now works as a consultant on research and innovation policy. .

Taking German public basic research as an example, this book explores how the ongoing implementation of knowledge and technology transfer as the Third Mission of academic science creates not only new incentives for academic patenting, but also triggers new patenting motives and strategies of researchers and organizations. Analyzing these motives and strategies, the book highlights how the complex regulatory interplay of the patent system, research policy and self-governed academic communities creates a situation in which new patent functions emerge: beyond their intended function as a protection for upstream inventions, patents become a signaling device for scientists to communicate their commitment and competence in the Third Mission. As an exploratory study, this book combines qualitative empirical research with concepts and insights from multiple fields such as economics, law, political sciences and regulation. In consequence, the book addresses anyone interested in patenting incentives and motives and their impact on the functional change and regulatory effectiveness of patents in polycentric regulatory environments.

The U.S. patent system is in an accelerating race with human ingenuity and investments in innovation. In many respects the system has responded with admirable flexibility, but the strain of continual technological change and the greater importance ascribed to patents in a knowledge economy are exposing weaknesses including questionable patent quality, rising transaction costs, impediments to the dissemination of information through patents, and international inconsistencies. A panel including a mix of legal expertise, economists, technologists, and university and corporate officials recommends significant changes in the way the patent system operates. A Patent System for the 21st Century urges creation of a mechanism for post-grant challenges to newly issued patents, reinvigoration of the non-obviousness standard to quality for a patent, strengthening of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, simplified and less costly litigation, harmonization of the U.S., European, and Japanese examination process, and protection of some research from patent infringement liability.

This volume assembles papers commissioned by the National Research Council's Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) to inform judgments about the significant institutional and policy changes in the patent system made over the past two decades. The chapters fall into three areas. The first four chapters consider the determinants and effects of changes in patent "quality." Quality refers to whether patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) meet the statutory standards of patentability, including novelty, nonobviousness, and utility. The fifth and sixth chapters consider the growth in patent litigation, which may itself be a function of changes in the quality of contested patents. The final three chapters explore controversies associated with the extension of patents into new domains of technology, including biomedicine, software, and business methods.

This symposium brought together leading experts and managers from the public and private sectors who are involved in the creation, dissemination, and use of scientific and technical data and information (STI) to: (1) describe and discuss the role and the benefits and costsâ€"both economic and otherâ€"of the public domain in STI in the research and education context, (2) to identify and analyze the legal, economic, and technological pressures on the public domain in STI in research and education, (3) describe and discuss existing and proposed approaches to preserving the public domain in STI in the United States, and (4) identify issues that may require further analysis.