Does Patent Strategy Shape the Long-Run Supply of Public Knowledge? Evidence from Human Genetics
研究基因专利如何减少公共遗传知识，发现专利范围、私营部门所有权、专利丛林等因素会加剧这种负面效应，对政策制定者和知识型企业有参考价值。
Knowledge-based firms seeking competitive advantage often draw on the public knowledge stream (ideas embedded in public commons institutions) as the foundation for private knowledge (ideas firms protect through private intellectual property [IP] institutions). However, understanding of the converse relationship—the impact of private knowledge strategies on public knowledge production—is limited. We examine this question in human genetics, where policy makers debate expanding IP ownership over the human genome. Our difference-in-differences estimates show that gene patents decrease public genetic knowledge, with broader patent scope, private sector ownership, patent thickets, fragmented patent ownership, and a gene's commercial relevance exacerbating their effect.