Patently false

Researchers should be more receptive to the concept of patenting, says Robert Andrews

The Biologist Vol 61(2) p9

Too often, patents come to public attention for the wrong reasons. They can appear to block access to technology (as seen with the import bans resulting from wrangling between Apple and Samsung). They are also portrayed as often unfairly restricting access to medical care (as seen recently in the US with the breast cancer testing company Myriad). Or they are seen as somehow unethical, as illustrated by the ongoing discussion on stem cell related patents in Europe.

In academic circles, this negative slant on patents can make itself felt as disdain for researchers or institutes that pursue patents or, more corrosively, in the propagation of the idea that the very concept of patenting is somehow opposed to the 'true principles' of academic research...

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