Facilitating Scientific Research: Intellectual Property Rights and the Norms of Science - a Response to Rai and Eisenberg

16 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2000

See all articles by F. Scott Kieff

F. Scott Kieff

George Washington University - Law School

Abstract

Arti Rai's article in the Fall 1999 issue of the Northwestern University Law Review explores the proper use of both legal rules and prescriptive norms to shape behavior in the basic biological research community. Rai's article builds upon the extensive work in this area by Rebecca Eisenberg, which first attained prominence through Eisenberg's article in the December 1987 issue of the Yale Law Journal. Eisenberg concludes that the use of patents in the area of basic biological research may frustrate central norms of the community. Rai prescribes concerted public and private action as the best tools for avoiding patents and the problems Eisenberg attributes to them. This essay responds to patent critics like Rai and Eisenberg by showing how patents are essential for promoting the central norms of the basic biological research community.

Suggested Citation

Kieff, F. Scott, Facilitating Scientific Research: Intellectual Property Rights and the Norms of Science - a Response to Rai and Eisenberg. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=240955 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.240955

F. Scott Kieff (Contact Author)

George Washington University - Law School ( email )

2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20052
United States
202-994-4644 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
612
Abstract Views
5,258
Rank
80,830
PlumX Metrics