Akron Intellectual Property Journal

Article Title

Intellectual Property and Public Health - A White Paper

Authors

Ryan Vacca
James Ming Chen
Jay Dratler Jr.
Tom Folsom
Timothy Hall
Yaniv Heled
Frank Pasquale
Elizabeth Reilly
Jeff Samuels
Katherine J. Strandburg
Kara W. Swanson
Andrew W. Torrance
Katharine Van Tassel

Abstract

On October 26, 2012, The University of Akron School of Law's Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants, and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions.

Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad questions. First, are there alternatives to the patent system or specific patent doctrines that can provide or help provide sufficient incentives for health-related innovation? Second, is health information being used proprietarily, and if so, is this use appropriate? Third, does IP conflict with other non-IP values that are important in health, and how does or how can IP law help resolve these conflicts? This report addresses each of these questions in turn.

Recommended Citation

Vacca, Ryan; Ming Chen, James; Dratler, Jay Jr.; Folsom, Tom; Hall, Timothy; Heled, Yaniv; Pasquale, Frank; Reilly, Elizabeth; Samuels, Jeff; Strandburg, Katherine J.; Swanson, Kara W.; Torrance, Andrew W.; and Van Tassel, Katharine (2014) "Intellectual Property and Public Health - A White Paper," Akron Intellectual Property Journal: Vol. 7 : Iss. 1 , Article 4.
Available at: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/akronintellectualproperty/vol7/iss1/4