Literature/202405081103 research exemption for patented knowledge

• Source: [@dent2006Research Use of Patented Knowledge]
• Tags: #patents #technology-transfer #research-use

The paper gives an overview of the status of exemptions in patent law in OECD countries (be aware, the working paper is from 2006).

Some of the main conclusions: - There are a variety of approaches regarding research use of patented knowledge. Some countries have explicit exceptions for research carried on patented knowledge, for example to understand how something works, or to derive novel knowledge. However, in some cases working with could be exempted as well (for example, deriving novel results with existing knowledge) - Most researchers are not even aware of the rules, and that may explain why countries with different rules do not show differences in the speed of innovation. However, this may change as more and more universities become patent portfolio holders and there's a possible path in which universities will start litigations over patents. - There is a common need to establish clear rules either exempting or not, in where Technology Transfer officers are involved, as well as other stakeholders. - Researchers are mostly ignoring the effects of patents in their own work. That suggest they may be sitting on a litigation time bomb.

Under most patent laws, the utilization of patents in research work would fall under infringing behavior. That means that researchers are liable and could be sued.

The solutions would involve redefining patent law, including statutory research use exemptions, amending the definition of infringement to exclude research, introducing a compulsory research license, or restricting the rights of patents when defining specific classes of actions.