Papers

Papers

  • Joined: March 4, 2014
  • Articles: 313

Right to Research and Copyright Law in Kenya: Text and Data Mining

[Chebet Koros, Joshua Kitili, Cynthia Nzuki and Natasha Karanja] ...The Strathmore University Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law carried out a study to determine the relationship between Kenya’s technology and copyright legal framework that affect the use of TDM research. It had four specific targets: to determine if Kenya’s technology policy promotes technology, learning, and research; to understand the prospects and plans for enabling a legal environment for research and development of technology; to assess the role of copyright law in enabling TDM research, and finally to provide recommendations for national, regional, and international copyright policies that enable TDM research. This policy brief is a summary of that study with specific policy recommendations resulting from the study.

Effect of an Open Patent Pool Strategy on Technology Innovation in Terms of Creating Shared Value

[Deuksin Kwon, Ha Young Lee, Joon Hyung Cho, and So Young Sohn] Abstract: In open patent pools (OPPs), members share their patents to each other. What gains do they expect by sharing patents? In this study, we analyze the effects of an OPP strategy on technological performance in terms of creating shared value (CSV). A panel regression was performed to compare the technological performance of firms in the open invention network (OIN), which is a Linux industry OPP, to those of non-OIN firms using their patent data. Our results demonstrate that the leading groups in the OIN achieved innovation by having more patent applications, forward citations, and collaborative activities than non-participants. Furthermore, OIN firms play a more significant role in promoting knowledge spillovers than non-participants. We demonstrate the positive effects of an OPP strategy on innovation by empirically measuring the technological performance of CSV strategies. Our findings provide insights for institutions that consider implementing an OPP strategy for innovation, including other types of open innovation.

The Hidden Cost of University Patents

[C.J. Ryan, W. Michael Schuster, and Brian L. Frye] Abstract: Universities are encouraged to undertake research through grants from government agencies, foundations, and other organizations. The Bayh-Dole Act reinforces this incentive structure by allowing universities to take ownership of the resultant patents. Included in these rights is the ability to generate income by licensing patents and bringing patent infringement lawsuits. Undoubtedly, exercising these rights to financially benefit the university is economically rational. But might such actions also impose a cost on the public despite the fact that these very patents arose from public research subsidies?

Open Educational Resources through the European Lens: Pedagogical Opportunities and Copyright Constraints

[Giulia Priora and Giovanna Carloni] Abstract: The adoption of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in schools and universities is a phenomenon on the rise also in Europe. Increasingly relying on digital, open, freely adaptable materials that are specifically designed for educational purposes is not only a response to the disruptions brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, but a consistent policy step towards a more inclusive, diverse, and quality education in the EU. The article examines the potential and constraints of OERs from both a pedagogical and legal perspective.

Reconceptualizing Open Access to Theses and Dissertations

[Orit Fischman Afori and Dalit Ken-Dror Feldman] ... The modern perception of TD has generated a call for their greater accessibility, as part of the Open Science movement. Nevertheless, in many countries around the world TD are not published in an open access format. While the normative basis for open access approach to publicly funded academic research is extensively discussed in the literature, there is a lack of legal and normative discussion concerning the special case of TD. The present study aims at filling this gap. We argue that the essence of TD as unique outputs of academic research merits a special stance compelling the publication of these studies in open access format, subject to certain exceptions.

Trade Secrets in Biologic Medicine: The Boundary with Patents

[Robin Feldman] Abstract: ... There is a dearth of legal literature on the topic of trade secrets in the biologic space and almost nothing regarding how trade secrets interact with the patent system in that domain. These scientific and legal areas are sufficiently complex that even the most intrepid scholars fear to tread. This article explains in detailed and accessible language how the systems are working together to the detriment of society. To address the problem, this article argues that a company receiving a patent on a drug product should be required to disclose the full range of trade secrets necessary to make that drug.

The Right to Repair, Competition, and Intellectual Property

[Michael Carrier] Abstract: Manufacturers have made it difficult for consumers to repair their products. And they have justified their restrictions in large part by claiming the need to protect their intellectual property (IP). This essay explains how justifications based on IP--in particular, copyrights, design patents, trademarks, and trade secrets--are not persuasive.

Mechanical Licenses for Video Games

[Lukas Ruthes Gonçalves] Abstract: Mechanical licenses are a scheme used in the music industry to not only allow publishers and songwriters to be compensated for their work, but also to allow this important cultural product to be better distributed in society and not get lost in time. Video games have accrued great importance culturally, but are at an increasingly greater risk of vanishing, due to being locked into a certain hardware. Allowing fans and other creators to utilize mechanical licenses to remake their favorite video games would help preservation efforts and serve as a reliable income stream for its original publisher.

Compelling Trade Secret Transfers

[David S. Levine and Joshua D. Sarnoff] Abstract: The unprecedented COVID-19 virus has brought to the forefront many challenges associated with exclusive rights in information, data, and know-how, all of which may constitute protected trade secrets. While patents have received more attention, trade secret information has limited the ability to perform research, develop, test, gain regulatory approval for, manufacture, and distribute globally and at sufficient scale and affordable prices the needed vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and personal protective equipment. Voluntary licensing efforts have proven inadequate to supply pandemic needs. Thus, compelling the transfer or licensing of trade secrets is needed to properly address COVID-19, but more importantly, to address future pandemics and other serious global problems such as climate change.

Monopolising Trash: The Critical Analysis of Upcycling under Finnish and EU Copyright Law

[Péter Mezei and Heidi Härkönen] Abstract: Exhaustion is a fundamental doctrine of copyright law, allowing for the resale of lawfully acquired copies of protected subject matter without prior authorization and payment to the rightholder. Following the debates on parallel importation, freedom of movement of goods, property rights v. copyright, and, most recently, resale of digital files, it is time to assess the relevance of the doctrine for a sustainable economy. More precisely, this paper addresses whether upcycling (transformative redistribution of materials based on the use of pieces/copies of, inter alia, works of authorship) fits into the doctrine of exhaustion.

Expanding access to biotherapeutics in low-income and middle-income countries through public health non-exclusive voluntary intellectual property licensing: considerations, requirements, and opportunities

[Sébastien Morin, et. al.] Abstract: Biotherapeutics, such as recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies, have become mainstays of modern medicine as shown by their increasing number in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines. However, despite frequently offering clinical advantages over standards of care, they remain largely out of reach for populations in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), partly because of high costs. Accordingly, the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines Expert Committee has requested that the Medicines Patent Pool explore intellectual property licensing to address this challenge.

The Status of Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs) in Africa

[PIJIP] A new paper by Desmond Oriakhogba and Dick Kawooya has been posted to the PIJIP/TLS Research Paper series. The Status of Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs) in Africa analyzes collective management of copyright in all of the African Union Member States. It finds that most countries do not follow the best practices for RROs outlined by the World Intellectual Property Organization.