The Innovation Pool in Biotechnology: The Role of Patents in Facilitating Innovation

This occasional paper presents the results of a five-year study of the patent and product development landscape in the Australian medical biotechnology (‘biotech’) industry with a research team that includes academics in the fields of law and social science. In addition, expert advice has been provided to the research team by international colleagues in the fields of economics, innovation studies, science, law, public health and other disciplines. The study, which commenced in 2009, involved surveys and interviews with participants in the industry, analysis of data from company websites, patent databases and a variety if other sources of information, and legal analysis.