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on Intellectual Property Rights |
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Issue of 2022‒04‒04
three papers chosen by Giovanni Ramello Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” |
| By: | Chiang, Ting-Wei; Wu, Xiaoping |
| Abstract: | This working paper provides a statistical analysis of 74 patent families which cover subject matter relevant to ten COVID-19 vaccines. These vaccines have accounted for 99% of the global COVID-19 vaccine production as of 31 December 2021, comprising over ten billion doses. Eight of them, namely BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech), AZD1222 (AstraZeneca/Oxford), Ad26.COV2-S (J&J), mRNA1273 (Moderna), BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm/Beijing), Coronavac (Sinovac), Covaxin (Bharat/ICMR), and NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax), have been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for inclusion in its Emergency Use Listing (EUL). The analysis is based on VaxPaL, a COVID-19 vaccines patent database developed by the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). Through the detailed examination of patent applicants, filing dates, and offices of first and subsequent filing, the paper identifies patterns and trends of innovation and patenting activities of COVID-19 vaccines in WTO Members, and presents the legal status of the 74 patent families in 105 jurisdictions. This information may provide useful background for policymakers on the significance and potential impact of these patent families with relevance to the access to and production of these vaccines in their individual countries. This, in turn, may help support practical assessments as to potential options within and beyond the current TRIPS framework to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,vaccine,patent,whole virus,viral vector,protein subunit,mRNA,filing dates,office of first filing,office of subsequent filing,legal status |
| JEL: | K11 K15 K30 O30 O31 O34 I18 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd20221&r= |
| By: | Masahito Ambashi (Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effect of grant-back clauses in licensing agreements using a different analytical manner from that of Ambashi, Régibeau, and Rockett (2019) (abbreviated by “ARR”). Both this study and theirs focus on attributes of innovations categorized as either “severable” (noninfringing) or “nonseverable” (infringing). The European Commission’s 2004 Technology Transfer Guidelines consider a grant-back clause applied to nonseverable innovation innocuous. In contrast, those guidelines indicate that a grant-back clause that applies to severable innovation should be treated with much greater skepticism. However, this study reveals that this guidance requires further debate concerning prohibitions on territorial restraints and multiple heterogeneous licensees, as well as other factors noted in the work of ARR. |
| Keywords: | Grant-back clause, Patent, Licensing, Severable and nonseverable innovation |
| JEL: | O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:1073&r= |
| By: | Igna, Ioana (CIRCLE, Lund University); Venturini, Francesco (University of Perugia) |
| Abstract: | Using patent data for a panel sample of European companies between 1995 and 2016 we explore whether the innovative success in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is related to earlier firms’ research in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and identify which company characteristics and external factors shape this performance. We show that AI innovation has been developed by the most prolific firms in the field of ICT, presents strong dynamic returns (learning effects), and benefits from complementaries with knowledge developed in network and communication technologies, high-speed computing and data analysis, and more recently in cognition and imaging. AI patent productivity increases with the scale of research but is lower in presence of narrow and mature technological competencies of the firm. AI innovating companies are found to benefit from spillovers associated with innovations developed in the field of ICT by the business sector; this effect, however, is confined to frontier firms. Our findings suggest that, with the take-off of the new technology, the technological lead of top AI innovators has increased mainly due to the accumulation of internal competencies and the expanding knowledge base. These trends help explain the concentration process of the world’s data market. |
| Keywords: | AI; ICT; patenting; European firms |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O34 |
| Date: | 2022–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2022_003&r= |