ECONOMICS AND THE LAW: AN EXAMINATION OF CONTEMPORARY CONTROVERSIES RELATED TO THE UNITED STATES PATENT SYSTEM
This research examines the contemporary controversies related to the United States patent system. The most significant of these controversies are those related to restrictions that patent holders are allowed to placed on the use of legally protected intellectual property, the economic harm suffered by patent holders as a result of infringements on patents, and the legal life of patents.
Michael Greenfield (1992, pp. 1051 1094) contends that emerging technological innovation (in fields such as biotechnology and information systems) is being hampered by requirements of the existing American patent system. This problem is held to be most acute in relation to restrictions that American law permits patent holders to place on the use of their intellectual property.
Victoria Slind Flor (1992a, p. 1) reports that American patent holders are suffering economic harm stemming from patent infringements by foreign manufacturers. Most such infringements, however, result from differences between American patent law and the patent law of other countries (Merges, 1988, p. 812). The patent infringement problem resulting from the illegal counterfeiting of goods is a much smaller part of the equation (Grossman and Shapiro, 1988a, pp. 59 75; Grossman and Shapiro, 1988b, pp. 79 100). Nevertheless, patent infringement related to the counterfeiting of goods exacts significant economic costs for American patent holders (Feinberg and Rousslang, 1990, p. 79).
Concern has also been expressed related to the life of intellectual property protection afforded by American patent law (Chou and Shy, 1991, p. 811). Many corporations and some economists advocate an extension of patent life (Chou and Shy, 1991, p. 811).
These contemporary controversies surrounding the patent system in the United States are examined in two major discussion...