The first presentation is by Kristen Osenga of the University of Richmond Law School. Her position is pro-patent. The primary obstacles to scientific rsearch are lack of funding and lack of access (due in part to patents but also because of budgetary constraints). The solution is not to weaken patents, but to encourage universities that hold research tool patents to act more like businesses and license out their technology; also universities should work out cross-licensing arrangements with other universities. [DWO Note — if the market isn’t encouraging this behavior now, why expect it to do so in the future?] Answer: universities lack the funding, knowledge, infrastructure, and culture to engage in tech transfer. [DWO Note — but the universities that hold the most patents — e.g., Stanford, California university system — don’t suffer from these problems]
Categories