Open AccessImpact of Intellectual Property Rights on the National Science System
Author(s) -
Joseph Straus
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5644/pi2021.200.14
Subject(s) - intellectual property , government (linguistics) , frontier , obligation , property rights , political science , law and economics , private rights , private sector , business , public relations , economics , law , philosophy , linguistics
After using the 2020 developments of the COVID-19 vaccines as an example of successful cooperation between academia, industry and government for supporting research and translating its results into innovations assisted by patents, the article turns to the national science systems. First, it addresses the pioneering role of the 1945 “Science the Endless Frontier”, the Magna Carta of American Science and its patent policy. Retraced are the subsequent US developments revealing a gradual turn from incentivizing knowledge and technology transfer from government funded institutions to industry by allowing it only in the form of non-exclusive licenses, to imposing the public research sector an obligation to commercialize its research results by allowing exclusive licenses and assignments of intellectual property rights to private business. This all by recognizing and preserving academic freedom and inquiry. Next, it pays attention to developments in countries where legislators followed overall the US model. Finally, the contribution discusses the intellectual property rights system in the light of the specific needs of academic researchers.