The Battle for Patent Rights in Plant Biotechnology: Evidence from Opposition
This paper describes and analyzes the occurrence and extent of oppositions initiatedagainst plant biotechnology patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO). Theopposition mechanism is a legal procedure that allows any third party to challenge thevalidity of patents awarded by the EPO. Results indicate that the opposition rate is fargreater in plant biotechnology than in other emerging industries. Consistent withtheoretical predictions, the empirical findings suggest that opposed patents aredisproportionately those that score high on features that proxy for their “value” or“quality”. In contrast to previous findings, however, the results show that large-volumeapplicants are more likely to be opposed. Because the boundaries of plant biotechpatents are ill-defined, large patent portfolios do not promote cooperative behavior suchas licensing or settlements. The analysis rejects the hypothesis that awardees are subjectto “nuisance” or “frivolous” oppositions. Instead, the opposition procedure serves as anerror correction mechanism.
Cédric Schneider
eng
application/pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8220
Check the according license before adaptation. When adapting give credits to the original author.