[A2k] Patents and the Regress of Useful Arts

[Pranesh Prakash]

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This article by Dr. Torrance and Dr. Tomlinson is based on a simulation
run by them to test whether patents actually increase innovation.  Their
conclusion: No, the patent system does not encourage innovation, while
openness does. For the whole article: <http://bit.ly/mBL2M> [pdf] (b/w/o
Glyn Moody)

Patents and the Regress of Useful Arts
by Dr. Andrew W. Torrance & Dr. Bill Tomlinson
10 Colum. Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 130 (2009) (Published May 15, 2009)

Abstract

Patent systems are often justified by an assumption that innovation will
be spurred by the prospect of patent protection, leading to the accrual
of greater societal benefits than would be possible under non-patent
systems. However, little empirical evidence exists to support this
assumption. One way to test the hypothesis that a patent system promotes
innovation is to simulate the behavior of inventors and competitors
experimentally under conditions approximating patent and non-patent
systems. Employing a multi-user interactive simulation of patent and
non-patent (commons and open source) systems (PatentSim), this study
compares rates of innovation, productivity, and societal utility.
PatentSim uses an abstracted and cumulative model of the invention
process, a database of potential innovations, an interactive interface
that allows users to invent, patent, or open source these innovations,
and a network over which users may interact with one another to license,
assign, buy, infringe, and enforce patents. Data generated thus far
using PatentSim suggest that a system combining patent and open source
protection for inventions (that is, similar to modern patent systems)
generates significantly lower rates of innovation (p<0.05), productivity
(p<0.001), and societal utility (p<0.002) than does a commons system.
These data also indicate that there is no statistical difference in
innovation, productivity, or societal utility between a pure patent
system and a system combining patent and open source protection. The
results of this study are inconsistent with the orthodox justification
for patent systems. However, they do accord well with evidence from the
increasingly important field of user and open innovation. Simulation
games of the patent system could even provide a more effective means of
fulfilling the Constitutional mandate =E2=80=9Cto promote the Progress of .=
 . .
useful Arts=E2=80=9D than does the orthodox assumption that technological
innovation can be encouraged through the prospect of patent protection.

About the Author

Dr. Andrew W. Torrance is an Associate Professor at the University of
Kansas School of Law and a Research Associate at the Biodiversity
Institute at the University of Kansas. Dr. Torrance received his Ph.D.
in biology from Harvard University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Dr. Bill Tomlinson is an Assistant Professor in the Informatics
Department of the Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at
the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Tomlinson received his Ph.D.
in media arts and sciences from The Media Lab at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.


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Pranesh Prakash
Programme Manager
Centre for Internet and Society
W: http://cis-india.org | T: +91 80 40926283

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