Cooperative Strategies for Facilitating Use of Patented Inventions in Biotechnology

The relationship between owners and users of patented inventions in biotechnology is complex, and current technology transfer strategies may not achieve the most desirable outcome in terms of promoting innovation in this area. There are some proposals for reforming the law to provide better outcomes, particularly the creation of a clear experimental use exemption. However, this article proposes that the patent owners' repertoire should be expanded to include industry-driven mechanisms that may be more finely tuned to the needs of particular industry participants or groups of participants. The discussion starts with patent pooling, but focuses on clearing house mechanisms and open source licensing. The article concludes that, although there have been isolated attempts to implement some of these strategies, for the most part, there is little evidence that the industry as a whole is motivated to take them up. More research needs to be done to determine whether biotechnology industry would benefit from adopting any of these strategies.