A study released Friday by UC-Hastings professor Robin Feldman and Harvard Fellow Dr. Nicholson Price predicted that biopharmaceutical companies will become a growing target of patent monetizers.
Their paper, Patent Trolling: Why Bio & Pharmaceuticals Are at Risk, examined life sciences patents—ranging from methods of treatment to active drug ingredients and dosage forms—of five research universities to evaluate their potential for assertion, using practices already observed in the technology industry. The authors characterized their search as “nonintensive,” but said they found numerous examples of patents held by universities that could be used as the basis of infringement claims against existing biotechnology and pharmaceutical products, and suggested a more intensive search by a motivated party could dig up plenty more. In particular, they looked at patents covering active ingredients, methods of treatment, manufacturing methods, dosage forms and screening methods. They also spelled out specific patents within each category.
