The Conflict between U.S. Patent Protection and Technological Innovation: Analysis and Problem Solving by Means of the Integrated Causal Model for Innovated Ethic

• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12130

The Conflict between U.S.

Patent Protection and

Technological Innovation:

Analysis and Problem Solving

by Means of the Integrated

Causal Model for Innovated

Ethic

WADE M. CHUMNEY, DAVID M. WASIELESKI, AND

E. G €

UNTER SCHUM ACHER

ABSTRACT

Criticisms of patent laws for technological innovations

in the United States reveal a multifaceted milieu of prob-

lems centered around the protection of short-term eco-

nomic gain and individual property rights. In this

article, we consider this a conflict between current pat-

ent laws and the innovation capabilities of organiza-

tions. We propose a solution that enables the company

to assure its long-term survival in the face of these

restrictions. This presumes that the firm will at least

maintain its innovation capacities while preserving the

Wade M. Chumney is an Assistant Professor of Business Ethics and Law, Nazarian College of

Business and Economics, California State University, Northridge, CA. E-mail: wade.chumney@

csun.edu. David M. Wasieleski is a Professor of Management, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh,

PA. He is also an Affiliate Research Professor, Cerefige, ICN Business School, Nancy-Metz,

France. E-mail: wasieleski@duq.edu. E. G€

unter Schumacher is an Associate Professor of Politi-

cal Economy, Cerefige, ICN Business School, Nancy-Metz, France, E-mail: gunter.schu-

macher@icn-groupe.fr.

V

C2017 W. Michael Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University. Published by

Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington

Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK.

Business and Society Review 122:4 531–555

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company’s ethical values and those of its social environ-

ment. We offer a theoretical model that is designed to

help managers and policymakers reorient their gover-

nance strategies for managing the innovation process,

using the “ethics of responsibility,” which establishes

the link to individual moral values at the beginning of a

governance process as well as the consequences of a

decision. Our integrated causal model of ethical innova-

tion for patents is presented and implications for global

organizations and possible solutions for patent law pro-

cess failure are offered.

Are we entering a crisis of technological innovation? The

Economist has reported that in the coming decade the

rate of innovation may actually slow globally despite an

increased rate of social and technological acceleration (January

12, 2013). While there are numerous reasons cited for this phe-

nomenon, there is a growing concern among intellectual property

scholars and business practitioners that existing patent laws

actually inhibit technological innovations, which runs counter to

the very purpose of patent systems (Thomas 2008). Google’s

Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Chief Legal

Officer, David Drummond, stated that the current patent system

will curb his company’s ability to innovate (Greene 2011).

Criticisms of patent laws for technological innovations reveal a

multifaceted milieu of problems centered on the protection of

short-term economic gain (Shu 2012). While attempts to reform

patent laws have been undertaken (the Leahy-Smith America

Invents Act), further proposals may place innovation at risk. In

this present article, we consider this a conflict between current

U.S. patent policies and the innovation capabilities of

organizations.

In the United States, the number of filed patents in their respec-

tive patent offices has increased dramatically since 2000 (Rentoc-

chini 2010). However, this increased filing of patent applications

should not be confused with increased innovation in the U.S.

Economy. As Boldrin and Levine note:

The case against patents can be summarized briefly: there is

no empirical evidence that they serve to increase innovation

532 BUSINESS AND SOCIETY REVIEW