Patents, genomics, research, and diagnostics

Technology Commercialization Effects on the Conduct of Research in Higher Education

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of technology commercialization on researcher practice and productivity at U.S. universities. Using data drawn from licensing contract documents and databases of university-industry linkages and faculty research output, the study findings suggest that the common practice of licensing technologies exclusively to singular firms may have a dampening effect on faculty inventor propensity to conduct published research and to collaborate with others on research. Furthermore, faculty who are more actively engaged in patenting may be less likely to collaborate with outsiders on research while faculty at public universities may experience particularly strong norms to engage in commercialization vis-à-vis traditional routes to research dissemination. These circumstances appear to be hindering innovation via the traditional mechanisms (research publication and collaboration), questioning the success of policymaking to date for the purpose of speeding the movement of research from the lab bench to society.

Decoding the research exemption

While debate continues as to whether genetic sequences, which many argue represent natural phenomena rather than inventions, should be subject to standard patent protections, issuance of patents that claim DNA sequences remains common practice. In an attempt to insulate researchers from patent claims that could hinder scientific progress, many countries have provided general exemptions for scientific research. However, there is no international consensus about the extent of required protections, and even existing exemptions vary widely in clarity and are limited in practical application. We believe that gene patents raise several unique issues that are inadequately handled by the current research exemptions.

Whole-genome patenting

Gene patenting is now a familiar commercial practice, but there is little awareness that several patents claim ownership of the complete genome sequence of a prokaryote or virus. When these patents are analysed and compared to those for other biological entities, it becomes clear that genome patents seek to exploit the genome as an information base and are part of a broader shift towards intangible intellectual property in genomics.