Monopoly v. Openness: Two sides of IP coin in the pharmaceutical industry

• Date: 01 November 2017
• Author: Olga Gurgula
• Published date: 01 November 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jwip.12081

DOI: 10.1111/jwip.12081

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Monopoly v. Openness: Two sides of IP coin in the

pharmaceutical industry

Olga Gurgula

Lecturer at Aston University, PhD Candidate

at Queen Mary University of London, LLM

(London), Ukrainian Qualified Lawyer

Correspondence

Email: o.gurgula@qmul.ac.uk

The pharmaceutical industry extensively relies on the patent

system. It actively lobbies for the strengthening of patent

protection of its medical products and the results of its efforts

may be found in the majority of bilateral and multilateral

agreements, including the TRIPS and the most recent TPPA,

augmented by private patent strategies pursued by pharma-

ceutical companies. However, some recent developments show

the emerging tendency of implementing different business

models by pharmaceutical companies that may mark the

beginning of transformation of this industry. Among these

developments is an “Open innovation”model, which has

increasingly been followed by some research institutions and

pharmaceutical companies aiming at facilitating the creation of

new and affordable medicines, as well as providing transparency

in order to enhance safety and efficacy of drugs. This article will

discuss these two current developments in the pharmaceutical

industry, that is, strong IP protection against open innovation.

KEYWORDS

access to medicines, open innovation, patents, the

pharmaceutical industry

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INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, intellectual property is seen as a monopoly granted by the state in order to reward the creator/inventor

and to facilitate dissemination of knowledge that otherwise would be kept secret. Out of all types of intellectual

property rights, patents are the strongest monopoly one can obtain over the results of his intellectual creations.

Possession of such a monopoly controls the use of a product protected by the patent; most importantly, its price.

© 2017 The Authors. The Journal of World Intellectual Property © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jwip J World Intellect Prop. 2017;20:206–220.