Disrupting the Traditional Patent System: The Emergence of New Models

Year 2017, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 67 - 76, 27.12.2017

Natacha Estèves

Abstract

The Open Source and Free Software
movements in copyright have, in their own way, challenged the tradi­tional
exclusive rights — based system. However, when it comes to patents, it would appear
that the traditional model — underpinned by the assumption that for an
innovation to be economically viable, an inventor must be able to exclude
others from making, using, or selling his innovation — still prevails.

The common understanding of the encouragement
of innovation providing the necessity for strong exclu­sive patent rights is
nevertheless nuanced by the recent development of atypical models. The models
that will be discussed in this paper do not challenge patents per se (i.e., a
right to prevent anyone from making and using the patented invention), but
rather the way patents are being used.

Relying on a growing literature on
so-called “open patents” and on selected examples (i.e., patent pledg­es), this
proposed paper will investigate recent “openings”, so to speak, of exclusive
intellectual property rights (IPRs) and how they affect our understanding of
patents as well as the legal instruments currently available to apprehend such
new models. 

Keywords

Open Patenting, Patent Pledges, Patent Licenses

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