IFI EBPM in STI / STIG Policy Platform Seminar: Intellectual Property, Open science, and the Tragedy of anti-commons – 20 years of evidence

  • Date：
    Thu, Jan 11, 2024
  • Time：
    16:50-18:30 (JST)
  • Location：
    Conference Room, 2nd floor, Sanjo Conference Hall, The University of Tokyo (Hongo)
  • Host：

    Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo

  • Co-host：

    Science, Technology and Innovation Governance (STIG) Program, The University of Tokyo

  • Event Format：

    Hybrid format of on-site participation/Zoom delivery

  • Language：

    English/Japanese (Simultaneous interpretation available)

  • Registration：

    Advance registration is required.
    *The Zoom URL will be emailed to those who register for the event on January 10.
    *The Institute for Future Initiatives collects personal information in order to provide you with the event information about our current and future activities. Your personal information will not be disclosed to any third party.

Registration is now closed for this event.
Speaker

Prof. John P. Walsh
Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract

Governments in numerous countries have actively encouraged academic institutions to patent their discoveries resulting from scientific research, aiming to foster technology transfer to the private sector and promote social impact. However, concerns have been raised about the potential emergence of “the tragedy of anti-commons,” in which the proliferation of patent holders may lead to the underutilization of valuable resources as these holders can obstruct each other, ultimately hindering the overall progress of scientific research. Based on the observations over the past two decades, this seminar will illustrate how academic institutions, regulations, and scientific communities have responded to this issue, how the accumulated evidence has informed policymaking, as well as broader lessons on safeguarding the commons of scientific knowledge.

Speaker bio

Dr. John P. Walsh is a Professor in the School of Public Policy. He teaches and does research on science, technology and innovation, using a sociological perspective that focuses on organizations and work to explain how research organizations respond to changes in their policy environment. Recent work includes studies of university-industry linkages in the US and Japan, the effects of research tool patents on biomedical researchers and country and industry differences in the role of patents in firm strategy. His work has been published in Science, American Sociological Review, Research Policy, Social Studies of Science, and Management Science. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation, the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, the Matsushita Foundation and the Japan Foundation, and he has done consulting for the National Academy of Sciences, the OECD, the European Commission and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

References

•Walsh, J.P., Cohen, W.M., Cho, C. (2007). Where Excludability Matters: Material Versus Intellectual Property in Academic Biomedical Research. Research Policy 36, 1184-1203.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2007.04.006
•Dialogues between Walsh, Eisenberg, et al.
(1) Can patents deter innovation? The anticommons in biomedical research (1998)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.280.5364.698
(2) Working Through the Patent Problem (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.299.5609.1021
(3) Patent Swords and Shields (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1081790
(4) View from the Bench: Patents and Material Transfers (2005)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1115813
(5) The anticommons at 20: Concerns for research continue (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat4684

Contact

Secretariat, Institute for Future Initiatives, UTokyo
Technology Governance Policy Research Unit
E-mail: ifi_tg[at]ifi.u-tokyo.ac.jp　(replace [at] with @)