Patent Pools, Competition Law and Biotechnology Routledge Research in Intellectual Property Series

Exploring the relationship between competition law and technology pools, this book provides general-purpose details of the biotechnology patent pool scheme while discussing historical developments, approaches of the US Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and the European Union Competition Commission via EU regulations. In addition to these regulatory approaches and evolution in concept and theory of technology pools, this book illustrates relationship issues including tying arrangements and essential facility consideration vis-à-vis technology pools. It analyzes the modalities of forming such pools in the area of biotechnology, specifically illustrating that the formation of technology pools is possible and can be safely undertaken, and proposes a viable solution and structure.

Patent pools in the biotechnology industry will pave the way towards open collaborative research, reducing patent thickets. Formation of such pools will increase access to various technology and patents otherwise out of bounds, resulting in a reduction of licensing costs and a spur in the development of new solutions. Most importantly, such pools will reduce the frequency of patent toll gates, making the entire spectrum of research interesting from the perspective of researchers as well as investors. This book will be an aid to researchers studying intellectual property, patents, and biotechnology, as well as to interest groups including funding agencies, venture funds, angel investors, and proponents of the open-source movement.

Contents

1. Introduction: The Value of Patents and the Evolution of Licensing






Patents and Their Value





Cross Licensing





Revenue Neutral License





Cross Licensing and the Migrationtowards Patent Pooling




2. The History and Evolution of Patent Pools
   






Patent Pools





The Development of Standard-Setting Pools
Standard-Setting Pools




3. Biotechnology and Patent Pooling: Antitrust issues in the US
   






The Tying of Antitrust with Patents





Standard Oil





Hartford-Empire





Nine No-Nos (post Standard Oil and Hartford-Empire)





The Guidelines of 1995





The Modern Approach and General Principles of Antitrust Analysis





Tying




4. Patent Pools and Competition Law: The EU Approach
   






General Approach





Technology Pools





The Composition of the Pool





European Union Regulations





The Assessment of Pools

5. Essential Facilities, Tying Arrangements, and Open-Source Structure






The Concept of Essential Facilities





The EU Approach to Essential Facilities





The US Approach to Essential Facilities





Tying Arrangements





Open-Source Arrangement

6. Biotechnology and Patent Pooling: A Way Forward






Pooling and Biotechnology
The Application of Pooling
Information Pools (Upstream Pools)
Technology Pools (Downstream Pools)

7. The Structure of Pools






Introduction





Rationale in Pooling
The Distinction between Standard-Setting and Non-Standard-Setting Pools
The Structure of the "Proposed" POOL (Twin Whorl Arrangement)Licensing Provisions





Summary

8. Conclusion

Summary

Devdatta Malshe is an independently practicing attorney and was editor of Industrial Property Law Reporter (2002–2008), based in Mumbai, India.