Strong Patent Research Articles

The effects of foreign patent litigation on firms’ patent strategies: evidence from Chinese litigants in the US court

ABSTRACT The internationally orientated market leads to a surge of cross-border patent litigations. Despite the growing literature on patent litigations, research on the impact of patent litigation on firms’ patent strategy is sparse, especially on the impact of foreign patent litigations. Using US patent infringement lawsuits in which Chinese public firms act as defendants, this paper investigates the effect of foreign patent litigation on firms’ subsequent patent outputs and patent trajectories. We find that the experience of foreign patent litigation increases the accused firms’ subsequent patent filings, and those firms tend to apply exploitative patents instead of exploratory patents. We further find that such promoting impact is more pronounced for firms with a high level of international intensity and firms in the ICT industry. These findings highlight the role of foreign patent litigation in future patent creation, thus enriching the literature on patent litigation and international business. According to the results, firms should take foreign patent litigation as an opportunity to build a strong patent portfolio and improve patent strategies.

Epistemic competition in global governance: The case of pharmaceutical patents

AbstractExpert consensus helps policymakers solve complex problems by identifying and legitimizing policy solutions. Yet, persistent hesitation remains among policymakers regarding the technically adequate policy solution despite the existence and mobilization of epistemic communities. This paper contends that more attention should be given to studying the epistemic competition that may arise when multiple epistemic communities grapple with the same problem but have divergent understandings of its technical nature and its adequate policy solutions. Building on Science and Technology Studies and on the literature on polarization, this paper suggests that two social dynamics, namely the mobilization of resources and increased polarization, may complexify the technical disagreement among experts. In turn, these dynamics may lead to a deadlock in the debates, negatively impacting the institutional context where they take place. To illustrate this, this paper analyzes the case of the pharmaceutical innovation system, which has been prone to tensions between experts arguing for strong patent protection and experts arguing for greater flexibility to meet public health needs. This paper builds on a mixed method combining a social network analysis of experts invited to provide their expertise in the WHO‐WTO‐WIPO Trilateral Cooperation events and on semi‐structured interviews with 24 of these experts.

The Scope of Software Patent Protection in the Digital Age: Evidence from Alice

Previous studies on software patents using data from the 1990s and early 2000s found a positive association between strong patent rights and sales within the software industry. Our research expands on this work in three ways. First, we consider more recent data from 2010 to 2018, which better represent the advancements in digitalization. Second, we shift our focus to the breadth of software patent protection rather than the quantity of patents held by a firm. Third, we provide evidence showing increased open-source involvement and sales for software firms when software patent protection is more limited. Put simply, a more restricted scope of software patent protection could foster a beneficial situation for both software firms and society. Despite less reliance on formal patent protection, companies can still generate and profit from their innovations without excluding societal members from utilizing these advancements. This “less-is-more” approach may extend to a wider array of software-related innovations, including but not limited to artificial intelligence, blockchain, and other emerging digital technologies.

Do patents really foster innovation in the pharmaceutical sector? Results from an evolutionary, agent-based model

The role of the patent system in the pharmaceutical sector is highly debated also due to its strong public health implications. In this paper we develop an evolutionary, agent-based model of the pharmaceutical industry to explore the impact of different configurations of the patent system upon innovation and competition. The model is able to replicate the main stylized facts of the drug industry as emergent properties. We perform policy experiments to assess the impact of different Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regimes changing the breadth and length of patents. Results tend to point against a strong patent system. Simulation experiments suggest that the extent and duration of patents shall, if anything, be set to minimum levels. This holds even when one assumes a strong response of R&D incentives to appropriability conditions and when taking into account information disclosure effects triggered by patents.

The asymmetric and long-run effect of environmental innovation and CO2 intensity of GDP on consumption-based CO2 emissions in Denmark.

The study explores the relationship between globalization, GDP, the carbon intensity of GDP, patents, and its effect on consumption-based carbon emissions (CCO2E). For analysis, novel econometric approaches include nonlinear ARDL and Fourier ARDL, and for robustness, dynamic OLS applied. The results from cointegration tests reveal that there exists a significant long-run relationship between CCO2E, globalization, economic growth, patents, and the carbon intensity of GDP. Additionally, the empirical results indicate that only positive shock in patents on environmental innovations have a negative and significant impact on CCO2E, while positive and negative shocks in GDP and carbon intensity of GDP significantly increase CCO2E. However, only a negative shock in globalization demonstrates the increase in CCO2E. Also, dynamic OLS findings confirmed the robustness. Given the outcome, it is recommended that the Danish government be cautious when approving policies intended to increase economic growth, as this could negatively affect environmental sustainability. More so, research and development must contribute to technological advancement in the Danish manufacturing sector. Despite this, it is important to prioritize patent promotion. Patent protection can enable Denmark to develop eco-friendly technologies that can reduce carbon emissions, thus enabling life to be more sustainable by utilizing fewer resources and energy. Denmark can reduce CO2E and foster economic development through a strong patent system on environmental technologies.

Patents on Environmental Technologies and Environmental Sustainability in Spain

Through an in-depth evaluation of the potential effectiveness of intellectual property protection on environmental technologies, the aim of the present research is to investigate the effect of patents on environmental innovation, energy use, GDP, and trade openness on environmental deregulation in Spain using nonlinear ARDL techniques. Specifically, the study findings indicate that patents on environmental technologies enhance environ-mental sustainability in Spain, as evidenced by the novel results from the nonlinear ARDL. Secondly, our study reveals that Spain’s growing economy degrades the quality of the environment. Based on the findings of the study, positive changes in trade openness could have positive effects on Spain’s environmental sustainability, suggesting that better productivity, more international trade, and increased economic openness could facilitate an improvement in Spain’s environmental impact. Lastly, this study provides evidence demonstrating that Spain’s environmental quality could suffer due to excessive energy consumption. In the light of this study’s policy recommendations, the policymakers and the Spanish government should encourage collaboration between private and public partnerships on environmental technologies to address global climate change or regional pollution. It is necessary for research and development to contribute to the development of technological progress in the Spanish energy sector; however, promoting patenting should be prioritized. By expanding patent protection, eco-friendly technologies that can combat carbon emissions can be developed swiftly in Spain, which will enable life to be more sustainable by lowering the use of energy and resources. A strong patent protection sys-tem will foster environmentally-friendly technologies and economic development while reducing CO2 emissions in Spain.

What is behind the globalization of technology? Exploring the interplay of multi-level drivers of international patent extension in the solar photovoltaic industry

The increasing internationalization of economic activities highlights the necessity of expanding protections for technologies outside their home countries. Given the large scale and fast growth in international patent filings, understanding the motivations of international patenting behaviors has attracted much attention. This study extends prior literature by exploring additional important determinants of international patenting behaviors and the heterogeneity in international patenting across technology and assignee categories. This study focuses on the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, which is a major sector in the renewable energy industry and plays a key role in achieving energy transition. As a critical application for semiconductors, PV technologies have grown into a substantial field of research and development through strong patents. In this study, we found that the quality and applicability scope of a patent, as well as the market size, manufacturing capacity, and imitation threats in a destination country, can impact international patent extensions in the solar PV industry. We also found that the strength of these motivators varies based on different types of technologies and assignees.

Patent portfolios and firms’ technological choices

In many industrial sectors, firms amass large patent portfolios to reinforce their bargaining position with competitors. In a context where patents have a pure strategic nature, we discuss how the presence and effectiveness of a patent system affect the technology decisions of firms. Specifically, we present a game where firms choose whether to agglomerate (i.e. develop technologies for the same technological territory) or to separate (i.e. develop technologies for different territories) prior to taking their patenting decisions. We show that strong patents may distort technology choices causing firms to follow inefficient technology trajectories in an attempt to reduce their competitors’ patenting activity. We also discuss how such distortions change when a firm is prevented from obtaining its optimal number of patents.

Exploring the Possibility of Utility Model Protection in India

The basic rationalization behind Utility Models is that patents are not suited in circumstances where the innovation is mostly based on craftsmanship performed in response to a real but limited need. Over the past few years, the intellectual property regime in India has been able to reinforce and strengthen its roots in the structure of the legal system despite numerous challenges and limitations. But the main question is whether the Indian industry has been able to truly exploit the law of IPR for their growth or not? Going by the record it seems that only big national and Multi-National Corporations have succeeded in extracting the benefits of India’s IPR reign because patent laws of India require a high threshold level of inventiveness which is accompanied with the cumbersome and highly technical application process, which is a quite a costly affair for small industries. In the present legal framework of India, the innovators of frugal or small inventions are unable to patent their inventions under the existing legal regime. The crisis has enlarged due to higher level of inventiveness. The utility model protection system developed to provide an alternate and auxiliary system to protect the inventions having a modulating level of inventiveness. Therefore, this paper intends to present the foundations of a legal framework which can strike a balance between the strong Patent system and a flexible utility model system which has a potential to boost innovation in India. The author in this paper looks into the possibility of legislating a separate law for the protection of utility models to promote economic and technological development.

Drug Prices, Patents and Access to Life-Saving Medicines: Changes Are Urgently Needed in the COVID-19 Era

When patented life-saving drugs are inaccessible to patients due to high prices it is evident that the system does not perform its intended function and urgently requires reforming. The paper discusses the evidence recently revealed by the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform that directly contradicts pharmaceutical companies’ traditional argument justifying strong patent protection as a vehicle for recouping their R&D investments. It further suggests that structural and comprehensive changes are necessary, including a rigorous investigation into pharmaceutical pricing and patenting practices, ensuring adequate access to the drugs developed with public funds, and assuming the responsibility for public health by governments.

Opportunities for Patents in Pharmaceutical Industry: An empirical study Drug Developers Opinion

Industries devote huge sums of money and resources in research and development to bring new medications to market in the fiercely competitive pharmaceutical sector. The price of creating new pharmaceuticals is significant, and it can take a while for them to reach the market. Patents give pharmaceutical companies a temporary legal monopoly on their product, which encourages innovation by enabling them to recoup their costs and turn a profit. In the pharmaceutical sector, there is a huge potential for patents, and businesses are constantly looking for innovative strategies to safeguard their inventions. Patents give drug developers an advantage over rivals in the market in addition to safeguarding their intellectual property. A business that has a substantial patent portfolio can stop rivals from entering the market and stealing market share. A strong patent portfolio can also draw investors and business partners because it shows a company's dedication to innovation and capability to safeguard its intellectual property. People from Pharmaceutical industry are considered in this research work, and it is found that Patents give pharmaceutical firm a legal monopoly on temporary basis on their product, Patents give medicine developers a competitive edge in the market, Patents has given Indian pharmaceutical firms the chance to be more creative and develop novel medications.

Rapid Cycle Temperature Swing Adsorption Process Using Solid Structured Sorbent for CO2 capture from Cement Flue Gas

Concrete is the most widely used man-made material in the world. The production process of cement, a key component of concrete, contributes significantly to CO2 emissions. Every year, over 4 billion tonnes of cement are produced, releasing approximately 7%-8% of global CO2 emissions [1]. Cement flue gas, processes and raw materials, contain around 16% CO2 and 7-10% O2 and NOX /SOX (100-300 ppm), contingent on the fuel type. High amounts of NOX/SOX are a significant challenge for any carbon capture system. The presence of high O2 concentration in the emitted gas stream can chemically degrade typical amines via production of amides or other oxide derivatives. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct preliminary studies at a pilot scale using real cement flue gas conditions to develop a viable technology and accurate techno-economic analysis for large plants (1 million+ tonnes of captured CO2 per year). Svante (formerly Inventys) has a strong patent portfolio on Rapid Cycle Temperature Swing Adsorption (RC-TSA) processes using structured adsorbents, steam-assisted direct regeneration with fast kinetics (< 1.5 mins cycle time) as an alternative to traditional liquid amine technologies. This project utilized scaled up CALF-20 sorbent, one of the first Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) used in an industrial CO2 capture project. This MOF is robust with regards to steam, O2 and acidic contaminant gases (such a NOX/SOX) which make it an ideal candidate for the cement CO2 capture application. This article discusses efforts to scale up the CALF-20 MOF sorbent from lab scale to ton scale. A review of CALF-20 performance after 2300 hrs of VeloxoTherm™ capture process results on a boiler flue gas doped with CO2 and Air to simulate Cement kiln flue gas at 0.1 TPD capacity is presented. Also included are results from Phase 1 of the cement project related to NOX/SOX stability tests on CALF-20 sorbent.

On the Patentability of Artificial Intelligence: a review of recent cases from the U.S.

As new developments in the field such as neural networks and machine learning have transformed the expectations of AI technology and what it may be capable of, the importance of AI grows exponentially not only in industrial and commercial spheres but also in educational, social and even cultural spheres of our society.BR Given the importance of AI technology, it follows that the inventors and those involved in the commercialization of the technology would want to protect and exploit the economic value of the technology to its full extent. Obtaining a patent is still one of the most fundamental tools in protecting the economic value of an invention by reserving its exclusive rights to the owner of the patent. However, due to the recent tightening of the requirements in the field of patent law regarding the question of patent-eligibility, it is not entirely clear whether and to what extent AI technology could be patentable. The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Alice v CLS Bank and subsequent decisions by the Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit (CAFC) have cast doubt on whether patents that have already been issued for AI satisfy the new tests for patent eligibility and it is difficult to predict with any certainty whether new patent applications in these technologies could satisfy the requirements for patent eligibility due to the fact that these requirements are still in the process of evolution. The traditionally accepted incentive theory would indicate that a strong patent system is the foundation for strong innovation and provides motivation to inventors and offers a known mechanism to evaluate potential returns to potential investors. Although the recent cases have introduced a real element of uncertainty into the system, this will eventually diminish with an accrual of case law through evolving court decisions, and even perhaps new legislation. In the meantime, however, inventors and investors still need to be able to protect their AI technology with patents, even though patents may not necessarily offer a foolproof or ironclad protection they may once seemed to hold out, while knowing that the system was never a guarantee of any value in the invention.BRBR This article provides a review of the recent decisions by the courts in the US, including the Federal Circuit on the issue of patentability of AI technology in order to draw out some guidance regarding how inventors and investors should approach this question.

Why healthcare market needs government intervention to improve access to essential medicines and healthcare efficiency: a scoping review from pharmaceutical price regulation perspective

AbstractBackgroundAccess to quality essential medicines at affordable price to patients in the healthcare market is one of the main goals of universal health coverage and health-related sustainable development goals. Healthcare market is imperfect, and the government cannot ensure access to essential medicines if the market is left to operate under invisible hand control. This scoping review was conducted with intention to provide the clear picture on impact of pharmaceutical price regulation on access to essential medicines, drug innovation and launching.MethodsWe searched articles written in the English language since January 2000 from PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Ovid/Medline and Google scholar with systematic search query.ResultsAccess to essential medicines, which is defined in terms of availability, affordability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of drugs, can be improved by pharmaceutical price regulation. Countries can use different price regulation strategies based on their healthcare objectives and priority healthcare needs. Country-specific pharmaceutical price regulation could not significantly affect drug innovation and launching. However, supportive strategies such as open public funding for drug innovation research, providing innovation awards and strong patent rights can counterbalance the effect of price regulation on innovation and drug development research in developed countries.ConclusionRegulating pharmaceutical pricing system is one of the key strategies to ensure access to essential medicines. Countries that have implemented pharmaceutical price regulation system (Germany, the UK, Canada and Iran) have achieved better access to essential medicines. However, the US and Ethiopian health systems that are unregulated concerning pharmaceutical pricing had a great challenge of affordability of essential medicines. Therefore, setting country-specific pharmaceutical price regulation system along with additional strategies to improve drug innovation is critical to ensure access to essential medicines.

Inter Partes Review Estoppel: The Patent Law Tug-of-War

Inter partes review estoppel has violated the principles of traditional res judicata since its inception. For the first several years of its life, IPR estoppel served to preserve a petitioner’s ability to harass patent owners and repetitively attempt to invalidate patents. Following SAS in 2018, IPR estoppel began to reverse course. The courts that once were allowing patent owner abuse are now limiting it with a broad application of IPR estoppel. However, this broad application of IPR estoppel is a soft claim preclusion that allows many exceptions behind the principles of res judicata. Furthermore, the PTAB allows petitioners to file numerous IPR petitions and does not enforce estoppel until a final written decision is issued to which the petitioner is a real party in interest. This practice likewise allows the harassment of patent owners and violates the principles of res judicata. To resolve the inter partes review estoppel problems, Congress must reintroduce the principles of res judicata with exceptions only where patent litigation absolutely requires it. Such an analysis leads to the conclusion that by enacting only the petitioner standing requirement and the estoppel provisions of the STRONGER Patents Act of 2019, IPR estoppel would achieve a balance equitable to patent owners and petitioners alike. These two provisions do well to support the principles of res judicata, grant adequate leeway where patent litigation requires it, yet still provide claim preclusion strong enough to avoid abuse. The doctrine of res judicata does not need reinventing for 21st century patent litigation—it merely needs reintegration.

Patent Portfolios and Firms Technological Choices

In many industrial sectors, firms amass large patents portfolios to reinforce their bargaining position vis a vis competitors. In a context where patents have a pure strategic nature, we discuss how the presence and the effectiveness of a patent system affect firms technological decisions. Specifically, we present a two-stage game where firms first choose whether to agglomerate (i.e. develop technologies for the same technological territory) or to separate (i.e. develop technologies for different territories) and then they take their patenting decisions. We show that strong patents may distort technological choices yielding to firms to follow inefficient technological trajectories in an attempt to reduce competitors’ patenting activity. While an increase in the strength of patent rights − i.e. the extent to which patents can be used to extract value − undoubtedly distorts firms choices, the impact of a larger scope − the degree to which patent protection carries out in the adjacent ares as well − is ambiguous. We also discuss how such distortions change when one firm is prevented from obtaining its optimal number of patents and when firms patenting activities generate additional market value.

Survey on the Patent Law Awareness and the Entrepreneurial Trend of Greece’s Graduates of Technology Institutes

In information technology industry, the development of new technology achievements influences and inspires the business world, serves and contributes to the progress of society. This rapidly evolving technological advancement needs a legal framework in order to obtain social and commercial status. Patent Law is the legal science and patent is the legal tool that adds value to intangible assets and therefore technology scientists are motivated to ensure their invention with a patent and also dominant technology enterprises are competing for the development of a strong patent portfolio. For the first time in Greece, combining the fields of intellectual property law and technological innovation, we created a survey using a questionnaire that was distributed in 2019, to graduated students of technology institutes in Greece. The purpose of the present survey is to clarify the knowhow of students as for the legal point of view of technology. We intend to find out, whether Greece’s potential inventors have beyond their technological background, the skills and knowledge to support a potential innovative idea. The results of the survey were that students have confidence in the institution of patents; however they lack the knowledge of patenting technological inventions. At the same time they have a positive attitude and motivation for entrepreneurship in the technological industry. Consequently, it is vital to apply measures in education, for the next generation technical inventors to have the knowhow of utilizing their intellectual asset in their own free will. Then, we can refer to integrated scientist technocrats who can protect their intellectual property and manage a competitive business.

Testimony on the STRONGER Patents Act before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Intellectual Property Subcommittee

This invited testimony was presented at a hearing on the STRONGER Patents Act before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Intellectual Property Subcommittee, on September 11, 2019. It explains how the STRONGER Patents Act addresses two sources of uncertainty, instability and weakness in the U.S. patent system today. First, the bill permanently would end the willy-nilly operations of the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB), an administrative tribunal created by Congress in 2011 to cancel issued patents. The PTAB engages in numerous procedural “shenanigans” that have produced extremely high cancellation rates, earning it the moniker of a “death squad” for patents. The STRONGER Patents Act imposes structural reforms on the PTAB by hardwiring into it necessary limitations on arbitrary action. Second, the bill abrogates the Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in eBay v. MercExchange, which created a new test for issuing injunctions for the ongoing infringement of a valid patent. By eliminating the classic legal test of a presumptive injunction for an ongoing violation of a valid property right, eBay has led to a significant drop in courts issuing injunctions for all patent owners. Both the PTAB and eBay have created a cloud over the titles of patents, incentivizing “efficient infringement” by large companies and hampering the economic function of patents in driving licensing and other commercial activities in the innovation economy. Thus, the STRONGER Patents Act represents much-needed reform. It reestablishes reliable and effective patent rights, stable legal institutions, and the rule of law in the patent system — essential features of all legal property rights in driving economic growth in innovation economies.

Patent implications in the pharmaceutical industry: Are static high prices leading to dynamic innovations?

Agreement on Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was laid on the premises of rewarding monopolistic patent rights to the innovator. Stronger patent protection was advocated to promote technology transfer from developed nations to the rest of the world. To boost domestic innovative potential and to maintain trade ties, most developing countries signed the TRIPS agreement. Impact of patent laws in the pharmaceutical industry was crucial as it posed threat to access health. This paper aims to analyze the impact of pharmaceutical product patent laws incorporated under the TRIPS agreement using 65 countries panel dataset from 1995 to 2016. The data is empirically analyzed using negative binomial regression and Poisson regression. Results clearly indicate that the number of pharmaceutical patents filed in US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decreased after TRIPS compliance in both low and middle income countries. However, the decline is larger in upper middle and lower middle income countries than in low income countries. The phenomenon of low patent activity has an increasingly declining trend across low and middle income countries. Hence the claimed hypothesis that stronger patent rights would increase innovative potential does not seem to stand true, which raises serious affordability concerns of bringing patents in the pharmaceutical sector.

Factors contributing to the strength of national patent protection and enforcement after TRIPS

In this paper we study the determinants of the strength of patent enforcement in 43 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) between 1998 and 2011, a period after the signing of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. We do so by building on and expanding the seminal work of Ginarte and Park (1997) on the pre-TRIPS determinants of patent rights in the years 1960-1990. We find that in the years after TRIPS was signed, the strength of patent enforcement of a country is positively determined by two variables that signify the usage of the patent and intellectual property system, and the number of patent and trademark applications. We also find that the level of research and development expenditure, the quality of human capital, and the level of development of a country have positive effects on the strength of the enforcement of patent law in practice. Intellectual property rights enforcement is one of the key investment-related policies included in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development. Identifying the determinants of strong patent systems will help policymakers at the national and supranational levels to design and implement effective policies that strengthen national patent systems, thereby enhancing economic benefits such as greater levels of commercialization of intangible assets and greater levels of international trade and investment.