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Nanotechnology patents are useful but could be improved

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 770–771 (2012)Cite this article

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To the Editor

One purpose of patents is to encourage innovators to explain their inventions so that other researchers can learn from previous work. But most legal commentators in the US assume that researchers rarely read patents because they are not technically useful — they are just confusing legalese — and because researchers are concerned about being sued for 'willful' patent infringement1,2,3. In the case of nanotechnology, patents might be less useful because there is a vibrant scientific literature in addition to the patent literature. However, contrary to popular wisdom, the results of a survey I carried out show that many nanotechnology researchers are reading patents and finding useful technical information in them, but that patents could still be improved4.

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References

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  7. World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Article 29; http://go.nature.com/R1If6J

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  1. Information Society Project, Yale Law School, New Haven, 06511, Connecticut, USA

    Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

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  1. Lisa Larrimore Ouellette
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Correspondence to Lisa Larrimore Ouellette.

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Ouellette, L. Nanotechnology patents are useful but could be improved. Nature Nanotech 7, 770–771 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.219

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