While the traditional literature and the policy statements concerning standardization as such emphasize the benefits of standardization, the intellectual property and competition law literature and policymaking has been more critical of standardization. Intellectual property is relevant, as the...

There is increasing concern that overlapping patents in the field of genetics will create a costly and legally complex situation known as a patent thicket, which, along with the associated issues of accumulating royalty payments, can act as a disincentive for innovation. One potential means of...

Open innovation is the subject of increased scholarly debate. A lot of attention has thereby been paid to firm-centered open innovation, characterized by a for-profit motive and the interplay between patents and contracts, resulting in restricted openness. Inspired by the increasing call for...

Concerns have been raised that the upsurge of 3D printing technology would disrupt the patent system. The central question the present paper aims to address is whether and to what extent the emergence of 3D printing technology indeed urges us to rethink patent law. The paper splits up this...

The present paper discusses the decision earlier this year of Judge Robert W. Sweet of the District Court for the Southern District of New York to deny patent protection for isolated human genes and associated diagnostic methods. The case related to genetic tests for familial breast and ovarian...

The political changes in Central and Eastern Europe have prompted a wave of legislative reforms in the area of industrial property law. The present article aims to examine the current legal scene as to the protection of new plants and animals in the Russian Federation in the context of the...

On July 5 2000 the European Commission proposed the creation of a Community patent to give inventors the option of obtaining a single patent legally valid throughout the European Union. The Lisbon European Council cited the creation of a Community patent as an essential part of Europe's efforts...

For the last 25 years we have seen a flood of new developments and new applications in the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering. The question facing researchers, patent practitioners, patent authorities, courts and legislators is whether or not, and if yes, to which extent, protection...

Traditionally, economic progress is considered to be one of the common interpretations of public interest. Recently, consensus has grown that public interest also includes public health objectives. The present paper examines to what extent the concept of public interest can be understood to...

Belgium takes the equitable sharing objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity to heart and intends to require information on the geographical origin of biological material. From a strictly legal point of view, current Belgian patent law does not offer a gate of entry for such an origin...