Abstract
Successful patent management also differs depending on the technological domain. This chapter looks at technological fields that are on the rise, fields such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, industry 4.0, software, artificial intelligence, and the blockchain. Managing these technologies requires different approaches to patenting and commercialization since they cross-cutout across industries and are still in their early states. Fields such as biotechnology have raised deep ethical and moral concerns, while technologies such as the blockchain questions the industrial-era notion of patentability. In contrast to the nuts, bolts, and processes of patent management, this chapter offers to readers a bit of a wider context as well as a broader and intellectually more mature view on the patent system.
A selected portion of this chapter, i.e., “Artificial intelligence-based business models,” was previously published in the chapter Bader MA and Stummeyer C (2019) The role of innovation and IP in AI-based business models; in: Baierl R, Behrens J and Brem A (eds): Digital Entrepreneurship – Interfaces Between Digital Technologies and Entrepreneurship; Springer: Heidelberg, pp. 23–56. Used with permission.
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US 4,736,866 (“Harvard-Maus”/“Oncomouse”).
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Stiftung Science et Cité (2004).
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CRISPR = Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.
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Fourth Industrial Revolution is the term used by Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, in his recent book on this subject (Schwab 2017).
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See, e.g., “Industry 4.0” (Germany), “Nouvelle France Industrielle” (France), “Fabricca Intelligente” (Italy), “Industria Conectada 4.0” (Spain), “Made Different” (Belgium), “Prumysl 4.0” (Czech Republic), “Smart Industry” (Slovakia), “Production 2014” (Sweden), “MADE” (Denmark), “Produktion der Zukunft” (Austria), and “Smart Industry” (The Netherlands).
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Source: In re Bernard L. Bilski and Rand A. Warsawk, 545 F.3d 943, 88 U.S.P.Q.2d 1385, Mayo v. Prometheus and Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co.
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The terms “patent family,” “patent application,” “patent filing,” or “invention” may be used interchangeably, referring to the representative patent family member and the corresponding invention. A patent family may include members for which patents have been granted, others not granted or still under patent examination. A patent family includes all those patents in different offices that relate to the same or similar technical content. The earliest application in the family has what is known as the priority number, and other applications in the family share one or more pieces of priority data for the purposes of novelty and inventive step. There are different definitions of patent families; for the displayed data and charts patent families are used that are grouping together the same invention sharing the exact priority data seeking patent protection in different jurisdictions (WIPO 2019).
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Note: A patent may refer to more than one category.
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https://www.hyperledger.org. This effort is part of a broader Russian initiative to advance blockchain technologies, spearheaded by the IPchain Association (https://ipchain.global/association/). This system can be accessed using the blockchain node at: peer-1.ipchain.ipchain.ru (specialized software required).
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Gassmann, O., Bader, M.A., Thompson, M.J. (2021). Patent Management in New Technology Environments. In: Patent Management. Management for Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59009-3_7
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