We study the evolution of technology as reflected in the US utility patents granted in the period 1976-2009. Previous work by Skusa and Bedau (2002) and Buchanan et al. (2010) used cumulative citation statistics to identify the inventions that most affect the course of evolution (those with the highest innovative impact). Here we examine the text of patent records (specifically, titles and abst...

BACKGROUND Cancer is a heterogeneous disease, which is based on an intricate network of processes at different spatiotemporal scales, from the genome to the tissue level. Hence the necessity for the biomedical and pharmaceutical research to work in a multiscale fashion. In this respect, a significant help derives from the collaboration with theoretical sciences. Mathematical models can in fact ...

Classifying research papers into patent classification systems enables an exhaustive and effective invalidity search, prior art search, and technical trend analysis. However, it is very costly to classify research papers manually. Therefore, we have studied automatic classification of research papers into a patent classification system. To classify research papers into patent classification sys...

The view of patents as well defined property rights is as simplistic as it is ubiquitous. This paper argues that in newly arising or immature technologies, patents are subject to intrinsic and extrinsic uncertainty that make them very opaque representations of the underlying inventions. The opacity is a result of unsettled legal doctrine and scientific terminology, uncertain commercial and tech...

The thought of a large biotech company holding an exclusive right to research and manipulate human genetic material provokes many reactions--from moral revulsion to enthusiasm about the possibilities for therapeutic advancement. While most agree that such a right must exist, debate continues over the appropriate extent of its entitlements and preclusive effects. In this Article, Professor Donna...

The increasing commercialization of university discoveries has initiated a controversy on the impacts for future scientific research. It has been argued that an increasing orientation towards commercialization may have a negative impact on more fundamental research efforts in science. Several scholars have therefore analyzed the relationship between publication and patenting activity of univers...

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most productive and competitive industries in the world. Many of the large pharmaceutical companies (often termed ‘Big Pharma’) base their primary operations in the USA and maintain extensive facilities in countries around the world. Pharmaceutical research is, therefore, an activity of global importance. The intensely competitive and global nature of B...

Patent citation information is created based on the applications submitted by the inventors and a search report presented by examiners from the patent organization. This information contain the difference between rarely cited and frequently cited patents. For the patents registered in the U.S.A., Europe, and Japan, the references are presented with the application when created and examined. The...

Patents for genetic material in the industrialized North have expanded significantly over the past twenty years, playing a crucial role in the current configuration of the agricultural biotechnology industries, and raising significant ethical issues. Patents have been claimed for genes, gene sequences, engineered crop species, and the technical processes to engineer them. Most critics have addr...