Patents Deterring Innovation
BY LAING RIKKERS, MARCH 1, 2006
The issue of patent protection is high on the minds of people in both the orthopedics industry and US business. Today the lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) ranted about how the patent system, designed to spur innovation and protect intellectual property, is now working in the opposite manner because of the potential liability associated with infringements. The penalties for infringement can be enormous -- greater than a company's revenues -- causing some to move away from research areas covered by others' patents. This is bad for innovation, bad for industry and bad for the US economy. We whole-heartedly agree with the editorial's title, "Patently Absurd", and think it is critical for everyone in the device field to pay attention to the trend.
For more on this subject, read our previous blog entries on the topic and report, Introductory Guide to Intellectual Property for Medical Devices.
