Science. 1998 May 1;280(5364):698-701.

Can patents deter innovation? The anticommons in biomedical research.

Source

University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1215, USA. mheller@umich.edu

Abstract

The "tragedy of the commons" metaphor helps explain why people overuse shared resources. However, the recent proliferation of intellectual property rights in biomedical research suggests a different tragedy, an "anticommons" in which people underuse scarce resources because too many owners can block each other. Privatization of biomedical research must be more carefully deployed to sustain both upstream research and downstream product development. Otherwise, more intellectual property rights may lead paradoxically to fewer useful products for improving human health.

Comment in

Patenting genomic technologies. [Science. 1998]
Patenting genomic technologies.Block DS, Curran DJ. Science. 1998 Nov 20; 282(5393):1420-1.
Patenting genes. [Science. 1998]
Patenting genes.Fried AH, Watson ME. Science. 1998 Jul 24; 281(5376):517.

PMID:: 9563938; [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Publication Types, MeSH Terms

Publication Types

MeSH Terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Supplemental Content

Save items

Related citations in PubMed

Intellectual property rights. Public sector collaboration for agricultural IP management. [Science. 2003]
Intellectual property rights. Public sector collaboration for agricultural IP management.
Atkinson RC, Beachy RN, Conway G, Cordova FA, Fox MA, Holbrook KA, Klessig DF, McCormick RL, McPherson PM, Rawlings HR 3rd, et al. Science. 2003 Jul 11; 301(5630):174-5.
Intellectual property. Enhanced: intellectual property landscape of the human genome. [Science. 2005]
Intellectual property. Enhanced: intellectual property landscape of the human genome.
Jensen K, Murray F. Science. 2005 Oct 14; 310(5746):239-40.
Patents, innovation, and privatization: Commentary on: "Data management in academic settings: an intellectual property perspective". [Sci Eng Ethics. 2010]
Patents, innovation, and privatization: Commentary on: "Data management in academic settings: an intellectual property perspective".
Albin RC. Sci Eng Ethics. 2010 Dec; 16(4):777-81. Epub 2010 Oct 1.
Review The position of intellectual property rights in drug discovery and development from natural products. [J Ethnopharmacol. 1996]
Review The position of intellectual property rights in drug discovery and development from natural products.
Boyd MR. J Ethnopharmacol. 1996 Apr; 51(1-3):17-25; discussion 25-7.
Review Technology transfer: a review for biomedical researchers. [Clin Cancer Res. 2001]
Review Technology transfer: a review for biomedical researchers.
Kneller R. Clin Cancer Res. 2001 Apr; 7(4):761-74.

See reviews... See all...

Cited by 47 PubMed Central articles

Assessing research impact in academic clinical medicine: a study using Research Excellence Framework pilot impact indicators. [BMC Health Serv Res. 2012]
Assessing research impact in academic clinical medicine: a study using Research Excellence Framework pilot impact indicators.
Ovseiko PV, Oancea A, Buchan AM. BMC Health Serv Res. 2012 Dec 23; 12:478. Epub 2012 Dec 23.
Innovation and access to medicines for neglected populations: could a treaty address a broken pharmaceutical R&D system? [PLoS Med. 2012]
Innovation and access to medicines for neglected populations: could a treaty address a broken pharmaceutical R&D system?
Moon S, Bermudez J, 't Hoen E. PLoS Med. 2012; 9(5):e1001218. Epub 2012 May 15.
Technology Commercialization Effects on the Conduct of Research in Higher Education. [Res High Educ. 2011]
Technology Commercialization Effects on the Conduct of Research in Higher Education.
Powers JB, Campbell EG. Res High Educ. 2011 May; 52(3):245-260.

See all...

Related information

Related Citations
Calculated set of PubMed citations closely related to the selected article(s) retrieved using a word weight algorithm. Related articles are displayed in ranked order from most to least relevant, with the “linked from” citation displayed first.
Cited in PMC
Full-text articles in the PubMed Central Database that cite the current articles.
Cited in Books
NCBI Bookshelf books that cite the current articles.

Recent activity

Clear Turn Off Turn On

Can patents deter innovation? The anticommons in biomedical research.
Can patents deter innovation? The anticommons in biomedical research.
Science. 1998 May 1 ;280(5364):698-701.

PubMed

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

PubMed

Result Filters

Display Settings:

Send to: