Revisiting Anticommons and Blockings in the Biotechnology Industry: A View from Competition Law Analysis

• Autores: Eng Teong See
• Localización: Journal of world intellectual property, ISSN 1422-2213, Vol. 11, Nº 3, 2008, págs. 139-175
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The commencement of biotechnology marks a new chapter in modern scientific research and a new industry. Numerous inventions and discoveries come to light day after day as scientists unravel more and more mysteries once thought to be beyond human comprehension. Its complicated nature, the lack of prior art and its constantly evolving characteristic brought with it a new rise in patent numbers. The situation was made worse by legal and commercial arrangements that tend to stack one patent on another and cause the legal rights to criss-cross to become a web of overlapping rights held by entities of diverse backgrounds. This situation caused some academics to fear for anticommons and blockings. While anticommons and blockings have been raised in relation to the biotechnology industry for a very long time in countless academic literature, this article attempts to revisit the issues from the competition law point of view. Through competition law analysis, this article attempts to explain the feasibility of certain solutions for such problems. Legislation and case law of certain jurisdictions are also examined to make analogy with the analysis. From the analysis, it appears that the problems, particularly blockings, may require an interlegal approach.