Differential Patent Terms and the Commercial Capacity of Innovation
18 Tex. Intell. Prop. L.J. 373
30 Pages Posted: 8 May 2017
Date Written: May 5, 2009
Abstract
During the past four decades much has been written, both in legal and economic literature, about the elements that should determine the scope of patent protection. While one segment of that research advances the view that patent rights (the patent breadth), in and of themselves are sufficient for attaining the optimal degree of socially-desirable patent protection, the other segment contends that the patent term (length) needs to be factored in. My research taps into this debate and emphasizes the need to discontinue the use of a single patent term for all types of patents. Specifically, I propose using a differential patent term, in which duration is contingent on the type of innovation and its underlying technology. Here, I resort to, among other things, the Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, a system of classification that can contribute towards applying the patent length factor in an efficient and relatively cheap manner.
Keywords: patent term, scope of patent protection, length of patent protection, duration is contingent on the type of innovation, patent classification, Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, intellectual property protection, patent breadth
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