View source for Diagnostic Kits/Nonenforcement, Noneproblem Rethinking the Anticommons in Biomedical Research

Eisenberg, R. 2008. Noncompliance, Nonenforcement, Nonproblem? Rethinking the Anticommons in Biomedical Research. Houston Law Review Available at: # www.houstonlawreview.org/archive/downloads/45-4_pdf/03_âEisenberg.pdf [Accessed November 20, 2009].

*This article more generally addresses Biomedical research but specifically addresses DNA Diagnostics in Section F starting on page 1071.  Eisenberg addresses the concern that upstream intellectual property rights restrict "downstream research and product development" by exerting high transaction costs at through the licensing process. (page 1060)  A previous paper by Heller & Eisenberg predicted that it would be the downstream product development that would be effected more than research.  This may help to explain why there is so much concern about patents in the biomedical field but so little evidence that a problem exists.  The problem may exist where isn't being measured: downstream.  
*This study aims to show: "the relationship between property rights, transaction costs, and the risks of inefficient underuse" (page 1063)
*"It is not clear whether the difficulties documented in these studies arise from the challenge of negotiating multiple licenses in the face of a proliferation of patents, as distinguished from the inability to reach agreement with a single obstreperous patent holder." (citing Nicol & Nielsen, page 1071)
**Myriad Genetics is cited as a licensing practice problem
**microarrays face a potential "anticommons problem if the burden of negotiating many necessary licenses consumes too much of the expected value of the product
*This article views the barriers to innovation in the diagnostic genetic kits field through the lens of licensing.  This could be seen as the ''licensing thicket.''  Of course, the licenses rely on patent protection, so there may be an important upstream analysis missed by this approach.  The advantage of this approach is that it might suggest a solution in the form of cooperative licensing without disrupting the current patenting model.
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