Patent Pools: A Solution To The Problem Of Access In Biotechnology Patents?

Jeanne Clark, Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Joe Piccolo, Associate Solicitor, Office of the Solicitor, Brian Stanton, Biotechnology Technology Center Practice Specialist, and Karin Tyson, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 12/5/2000)

One of the biggest public concerns voiced against the granting of patents by the United StatesPatent Office (USPTO) to inventions in biotechnology, specifically inventions based on geneticinformation, is the potential lack of reasonable access to that technology for the research anddevelopment of commercial products and for further basic biological research. One possiblesolution lies in the formation of patent pools. Part II of this document briefly discusses publicconcerns about the granting of intellectual property rights to genomic inventions. Part III definesa patent pool and summarizes their history in the United States. Part IV sets forth the legalguidelines issued by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission concerningintellectual property licensing arrangements. Finally, Part V analyzes the potential benefits offorming patent pools in the biotechnology industry to both commercial entities and the public atlarge.