Cargando…

Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study

Concern is mounting that innovators are responding to recent changes in patent eligibility by increasingly choosing to protect their discoveries as trade secrets. Due to the clandestine nature of trade secrets, it is impossible to quantify the extent to which innovators actually elect to protect the...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Guerrini, Christi J, McGuire, Amy L, Majumder, Mary A, Bollinger, Juli M, Rowan, Paul J
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5965503/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29868184
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsx034
_version_ 1783325366700474368
author Guerrini, Christi J
McGuire, Amy L
Majumder, Mary A
Bollinger, Juli M
Rowan, Paul J
author_facet Guerrini, Christi J
McGuire, Amy L
Majumder, Mary A
Bollinger, Juli M
Rowan, Paul J
author_sort Guerrini, Christi J
collection PubMed
description Concern is mounting that innovators are responding to recent changes in patent eligibility by increasingly choosing to protect their discoveries as trade secrets. Due to the clandestine nature of trade secrets, it is impossible to quantify the extent to which innovators actually elect to protect their inventions as trade secrets rather than patents. Nevertheless, interest in each strategy may be gauged through qualitative means. We conducted semi-structured interviews of legal and scientific experts (n = 30) to understand the effect of recent patent eligibility changes on interest in patenting and trade secrecy of genetic innovations. Interview data indicate that secrecy may have increased in strategic appeal relative to patent protection in some areas of genetic innovation, although the actual election of secrecy strategies is often limited as a practical matter. The data also suggest that the burden of navigating the new intellectual property landscape may be falling disproportionately on those who translate gene-based discoveries into clinical applications. Some interviewees expressed concern about the normative implications of secrecy on advancements in and access to genetic medicine. Our findings are potentially relevant to policy proposals intended to restore some of the legal protection that was lost as a result of recent changes to patent eligibility, including amending the federal patent statute and expanding regulatory exclusivities for some genetic technologies.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5965503
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher Oxford University Press
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-59655032018-06-04 Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study Guerrini, Christi J McGuire, Amy L Majumder, Mary A Bollinger, Juli M Rowan, Paul J J Law Biosci Original Article Concern is mounting that innovators are responding to recent changes in patent eligibility by increasingly choosing to protect their discoveries as trade secrets. Due to the clandestine nature of trade secrets, it is impossible to quantify the extent to which innovators actually elect to protect their inventions as trade secrets rather than patents. Nevertheless, interest in each strategy may be gauged through qualitative means. We conducted semi-structured interviews of legal and scientific experts (n = 30) to understand the effect of recent patent eligibility changes on interest in patenting and trade secrecy of genetic innovations. Interview data indicate that secrecy may have increased in strategic appeal relative to patent protection in some areas of genetic innovation, although the actual election of secrecy strategies is often limited as a practical matter. The data also suggest that the burden of navigating the new intellectual property landscape may be falling disproportionately on those who translate gene-based discoveries into clinical applications. Some interviewees expressed concern about the normative implications of secrecy on advancements in and access to genetic medicine. Our findings are potentially relevant to policy proposals intended to restore some of the legal protection that was lost as a result of recent changes to patent eligibility, including amending the federal patent statute and expanding regulatory exclusivities for some genetic technologies. Oxford University Press 2017-11-16 /pmc/articles/PMC5965503/ /pubmed/29868184 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsx034 Text en © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Duke University School of Law, Harvard Law School, Oxford University Press, and Stanford Law School. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Original Article
Guerrini, Christi J
McGuire, Amy L
Majumder, Mary A
Bollinger, Juli M
Rowan, Paul J
Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study
title Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study
title_full Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study
title_fullStr Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study
title_full_unstemmed Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study
title_short Constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study
title_sort constraints on gene patent protection fuel secrecy concerns: a qualitative study
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5965503/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29868184
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsx034
work_keys_str_mv AT guerrinichristij constraintsongenepatentprotectionfuelsecrecyconcernsaqualitativestudy
AT mcguireamyl constraintsongenepatentprotectionfuelsecrecyconcernsaqualitativestudy
AT majumdermarya constraintsongenepatentprotectionfuelsecrecyconcernsaqualitativestudy
AT bollingerjulim constraintsongenepatentprotectionfuelsecrecyconcernsaqualitativestudy
AT rowanpaulj constraintsongenepatentprotectionfuelsecrecyconcernsaqualitativestudy