Patent battles wound developers' innovative work

An international study from Canada's McGill University says that the aggressive patent strategies of the world's biotech and pharma companies--as well as universities--are stifling innovation. And more trust and collaboration will be needed if the drug development world hopes to match the innovative successes seen in information technology.

"The old [intellectual property] approach of the biotechnology community has failed to deliver on its potential to address disease and hunger in both developing and industrialised nations. We need to do better, and the [information technology] world has shown us part of the solution," said Richard Gold, a law professor at McGill. "Look at the way that change has swept through the IT world and brought benefits to millions."

Gold cautioned that he wasn't opposed to patent protection, but maintained that too many developers were concentrated on amassing and defending patents. The study cited Myriad Genetics' patent strategy as an example of an intransigent system that slowed work in the field of breast cancer genes.

- read the article from the Financial Times

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