title: Returning to the Patent Landscapes for Nanotechnology: Assessing the Garden that It Has Grown Into.
abstract: The patent landscape, like a garden, can tell you much about its designers and users; their motivations, biases, and general interests. While both patent landscapes and gardens may appear to the casual observer as refined and ordered, an in-depth exploration of the terrain is likely to reveal unforeseen challenges including, for example, alien species, thickets, and trolls. As this Chapter illustrates, patent landscapes are dynamic and have been forced to continually evolve in response to technological innovation. While emerging technologies, such as biotechnology and information communication technology have challenged the traditional patent landscape, resulting in the pruning of certain elements here and there, the overarching framework and design has largely remained intact. But will this always be the case? As the field of nanotechnology continues to evolve and mature, the aim of this Chapter is to map how the technology has evolved and grown within the confines of existing structures and underlying foundation of the patent landscape and the implications thereof for the technology, industry, and the public more generally. The Chapter concludes by asking the question whether the current patent landscape will be able to withstand the ubiquitous nature of the technology, or whether nanotechnology, in combination with other emerging technologies, will be a catalyst for governments and policy makers to completely redesign the patent landscape.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, 877906, Tempe, AZ, 85297, USA. Diana.Bowman@asu.edu.
authors.forename: Diana M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, 877906, Tempe, AZ, 85297, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Sylvester
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, 877906, Tempe, AZ, 85297, USA.
authors.forename: Anthony D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Marino
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D018973:Intellectual Property; D062069:Inventions / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010330:Patents as Topic / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
keywords: Intellectual property; Patent pools; Patent thickets; TRIPS Agreement; Technology innovation; Trolls