PatentX Options

[Work in Progress; last revised January 21, 2022]

Each of the modules set forth below is intended to occupy one week of a university-level course on patent law, although they may be taught in a more compressed format. All of them presume that students have completed the PatentX Core curriculum.

Public Health

The primary purpose of this series of five modules is to provide lawmakers and policymakers in developing countries assistance when devising ways of combatting the ongoing scourges of both communicable and noncommunicable diseases. In combination with the PatentX Core, this series would be the equivalent of a one-semester university course on Intellectual Property and Public Health.

Module 201: The Global Health Crisis

Lecture: The Global Health Crisis (Fisher) (vimeo version) (mp4 version)
Readings
- United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, Final Report, pages 13-20
- Fisher & Syed, A War Not Easily Won (draft 2022), Introduction and chapters 1-2

Module 202: Improving Pharmaceutical Markets

Lectures
- Potential Ways of Increasing Access to Medicines: Technology Transfer, Local Production, and Differential Pricing (Fisher) (40 minutes)
- Voluntary Licensing (20 minutes)
  - Clifford Samuel, former Senior Vice President, Gilead Sciences
  - Claudio Lilienfeld, former Senior Director, International Government Affairs, Gilead Sciences
- The Southern Africa Quality Assurance Network (20 minutes)
  - Nelson Mandela, Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies, Kenya
Readings:
- Vincent Ahonkhai et al., “Speeding Access to Vaccines and Medicines in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Case for Change and a Framework for Optimized Product Market Authorization,” PLoS ONE 11, no. 11 (2016).
- Fisher, Okediji & Gehl Sampath, “Fostering Production of Pharmaceutical Products in Developing Countries” (f2022)
- Peter Lee, “Tacit Knowledge Transfer and the Patent Bargain“ (2022)

Module 203: Improving Intellectual Property

Lectures:
- Adjusting Patent Law: the TRIPS Flexibilities (Okediji)
- Curbing COVID in Bolivia
  - [representative of Unidad de Medicamentos y Tecnologia en Salud]
Readings:
- Bagley & Okediji, “The Political Economy of Patents”
- Fisher & Rigamonti, “The South Africa AIDS Controversy: A Case Study in Patent Law and Policy” (2005)
- Okediji, Case Study on Compulsory Licensing, Bolivia, and COVID Vaccines (2022)
- United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, Final Report, pages 21-32

Module 204: Alternative Incentive Systems

Lecture: Potential Alternatives to Intellectual Property: Grants, Prizes, and Regulations (Fisher) (80 minutes)
Readings:

Module 205: Looking Forward

Three Views:
- Coronavirus: The Big Questions (Bill Gates) (interview with Financial Times, 2019) (22 minutes)
- Preparation for the Next Pandemic (Ashish Jha) (20 minutes)
- A Feasible Combination of Legal Reforms (Fisher) (30 minutes)
Reading:
- Haochen Sun & Madhavi Sunder, “Intellectual Property, COVID-19, and the Next Pandemic: Diagnosing Problems, Developing Cures” (2022)
- Matthew Kavanagh, “Legal Paradigms and the Politics of Global COVID-19 Vaccine Access” (2022)
- Sapna Kumar & Ana Santos Rutschman, “New Licensing Avenues to Promote Public Health” (2022)

Frontiers

These modules address especially difficult and volatile topics concerning patent law and policy

Module 305: Innovations in Agriculture

Lecture: Plant Patents (Mark Janis)

Theory

Module 401: Innovation Policy

Lectures:
- An Introduction to Patent Theory (Fisher) (40 minutes) (vimeo version) (mp4 version)
- Shaping Innovation (52 minutes) (vimeo version) (mp4 version)
  - Eric Lander, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Readings:
- Miguel Helft & Shan Carter, “A Chief Executive’s Attention to Detail, Noted in 313 Patents,” New York Times, August 25, 2011.
- Interview with William McCune, Concord Oral History Program (1996)
- Elon Musk, “All Our Patents Belong to You” (2014)
- John Golden, “Biotechnology, Technology Policy, and Patentability: Natural Products and Invention in the American System, 50 Emory L.J. 101 (2001), pages 144-163
- Jolls, Sunstein, and Thaler, “A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics,” pages 1471-1489
- Dennis Crouch, “The Patent Lottery: Exploiting Behavioral Economics for the Common Good,” 16 George Mason Law Review 141 (2008)

Module 402: Cultural Theory

Lecture: Transcending Utilitarianism (Syed?)
Reading:
- Oren Bracha and Talha Syed, “Beyond Efficiency, Consequence-Sensitive Theories of Copyright”
- Madhavi Sunder, “Culture and Freedom” (2012)

Module 403: Fairness

Lectures:
- What Do Innovators Deserve?
- Fair Pricing (Fisher)

Module 404: Patent Law and Human Rights

Lecture: Human Rights (Sunder & Sun)

Module 405: The History of Patent Law

Lecture: From Venice to Paris to Geneva (Bracha?)

Practice

Module 501: Patent Litigation in the United States

Lecture: Patent Litigation (William Lee)
- Part A: The Roles of Juries (36 minutes) (vimeo version) (mp4 version)
- Part B: How to Try a Patent Case to a Jury (13 minutes) (vimeo version) (mp4 version)
- Part C: Case Study: Apple v. Samsung (41 minutes) (vimeo version) (mp4 version)
Readings:
- Daily and Kieff, Benefits of Patent Jury Trials for Commercializing Innovation, 21 George Mason Law Review 865 (2014)
- IIPI & USPTO, Comparative Study of Specialized Intellectual Property Courts (2012), pages 1-10

Module 502: Multijurisdictional Patent Litigation

Module 503: Business Strategy

Readings:
- Fisher & Oberholzer, “Strategic Management of Intellectual Property — An Integrated Approach,” California Management Review 55 (2013): 157
- Case Study: Apple