AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, 2005, -199
pp.
The appropriate dimensions of protection for intellectual property rights in general and patents in particular have been matters of controversy since the sixteenth century. As growth in advanced economies has seemingly become more dependent on technological change, the stakes in intellectual property rights have grown. Software and biotechnology, both relatively new areas to come under the patent umbrella, have brought the debate to a fevered pitch in recent years.
The focus on high-tech industries has been especially bright over the last couple of decades. The 1980s saw a flurry of legislative changes, including two that made it easier to obtain patents for publicly funded research. Today, we still wrestle with the aftermath of several legislative changes and legal precedents. Those who believe that patents indeed provide significant incentives for innovation are generally pleased with recent changes in patent protection, although most still acknowledge the need for more systematic reform of the system. But skeptics worry about several problems, including the strategic use of patents to inhibit innovation.
This collection of essays provides a state-of-the-art analysis of intellectual property rights issues in two frontier industries, software and biotechnology. It is the result of an AEI-Brookings Joint Center conference held on April 30, 2004.
The authors examine a number of fundamental intellectual property issues. These include the general impact of patents on innovation, the measured effects of software patents, the design of optimal software patents, the old patent problems that new technologies have raised afresh, the use of an open source model in biomedical research, and the research conditions that often dictate how intellectual property is dealt with in an industry. After evaluating a number of features of the current system of intellectual property, the authors make some recommendations for reform and suggest areas for future research.
INTRODUCTION
AN OVERVIEW OF THE ECONOMICS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
SOFTWARE PATENTS: GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS?
DESIGNING OPTIMAL SOFTWARE PATENTS
STATE STREET MEETS THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND BIOINFORMATICS,
OPEN AND COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A NEW MODEL FOR BIOMEDICINE
DOES OPEN SOURCE HAVE LEGS?
The appropriate dimensions of protection for intellectual property rights in general and patents in particular have been matters of controversy since the sixteenth century. As growth in advanced economies has seemingly become more dependent on technological change, the stakes in intellectual property rights have grown. Software and biotechnology, both relatively new areas to come under the patent umbrella, have brought the debate to a fevered pitch in recent years.
The focus on high-tech industries has been especially bright over the last couple of decades. The 1980s saw a flurry of legislative changes, including two that made it easier to obtain patents for publicly funded research. Today, we still wrestle with the aftermath of several legislative changes and legal precedents. Those who believe that patents indeed provide significant incentives for innovation are generally pleased with recent changes in patent protection, although most still acknowledge the need for more systematic reform of the system. But skeptics worry about several problems, including the strategic use of patents to inhibit innovation.
This collection of essays provides a state-of-the-art analysis of intellectual property rights issues in two frontier industries, software and biotechnology. It is the result of an AEI-Brookings Joint Center conference held on April 30, 2004.
The authors examine a number of fundamental intellectual property issues. These include the general impact of patents on innovation, the measured effects of software patents, the design of optimal software patents, the old patent problems that new technologies have raised afresh, the use of an open source model in biomedical research, and the research conditions that often dictate how intellectual property is dealt with in an industry. After evaluating a number of features of the current system of intellectual property, the authors make some recommendations for reform and suggest areas for future research.
INTRODUCTION
AN OVERVIEW OF THE ECONOMICS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
SOFTWARE PATENTS: GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS?
DESIGNING OPTIMAL SOFTWARE PATENTS
STATE STREET MEETS THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND BIOINFORMATICS,
OPEN AND COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A NEW MODEL FOR BIOMEDICINE
DOES OPEN SOURCE HAVE LEGS?