Advantages And Disadvantages Of Licensing

U.S. based companies hold rights to most of the world’s rights on new medicines and holds thousands of new products currently being developed. As of 2012, the industry helps support almost 3.4 million jobs in the U.S. economy. It is also one of the most heavily R&D based industries in the world. In the United States, the environment for pharmaceuticals is much friendlier than other countries around the world in terms of pricing ability and regulations. Both the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries have experienced significant growth in the past year with year-over-year increases of 13.02% and 34.69% respectively. It is an even more striking when looking at the past five years considering both have beat out the S&P 500 with pharmaceuticals increasing an additional 31.44% and the biotechnology sector besting an astonishing 269.3% more return than the

For a long time we have strived to protect what we have made from the hands of those who steal. Nowadays we have a huge problem with infringement and that is due

Royalties are disbursements produced by an organization or a licensee to another organization or licensor in exchange for the right to use intellectual property or physical assets owned by the licensor. Royalty agreements are divided into two types of agreements. A Fixed price-per-unit agreement compensates the licensor a fixed price for every product or service sold by the licensee. Royalties pay a percentage of revenues or profit derived from the sale of a licensed product or service. A fixed-fee contract provides a price that is not subject to any amendment. A fixed fee contract holds licensor accountable for all costs regardless of profit or loss.

Unlicensed software use continued to be a major problem in 2013. Indeed, 43 percent of the software installed on PCs around the world was not properly licensed, an uptick from 42 percent in 2011. The commercial value of the unlicensed installations was $62.7 billion. (The Compliance Gap, 2014). As we can see piracy of software and other digital media is a global problem that adversely affects many businesses and the welfare of employees and consumers.

An Introduction to the Law and Economics of Intellectual Property Author(s): Stanley M. Besen and Leo J. Raskind Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Winter, 1991), pp. 3-27 Published by: American Economic Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1942699 . Accessed: 24/11/2011 08:39

Traditional legal principles and processes are constantly challenged by the need to keep pace with copyright issues in particular piracy.

Copyright is the legal right, to an inventor to perform, print, publish, film, or record artistic, literary, or musical material, and to allow others to do the same. Copyright law was developed to provide the creators and inventors of any works with powerful and effective rights of exclusivity over their creations (Patterson & Lindberg, 1991). Over the past, these rights were almost unlimited. People would use existing developments as if they were their own without any regard of the creator’s exclusive rights. The need to balance and limit such rights arose, and governments established these limits for the general good of the public.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (n.d.) helps one understand the importance of protecting intellectual property. They have spelled out several reasons of this importance including inventing new works in technology and culture, which allows progress to be made that, can be utilized worldwide. In addition, the legal protection of intellectual property encourages the commitment of additional resources for further modernization. Finally, promoting and protecting intellectual property encourages economic growth. It creates new jobs and industries. Protecting intellectual property also enhances the quality and

The pharmaceutical industry includes companies that research, develop, market or distribute generic and branded drugs. The industry expanded during the 1980’s and drugs to treat heart disease and AIDS were prominent. Consumer demand for nutritional supplements and alternative medicine increased during the 1990’s with the Internet facilitating direct purchases of drugs. Advertising for direct consumption of pharmaceutical drugs became more prominent; pharmaceutical companies were criticized for over medicating personality or social problems.

Identify and discuss these copyright challenges in the modern digital economy using examples from case law.

Therefore, protection of patents is one of the key conditions necessary for further development of the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, non-efficient legislation that does not provide the necessary level of patent protection is one of the factors that hamper expansion of “Big Pharmaceutical” companies to the developing countries8.

There must be a balance between the developer of the intellectual property and the interest of the public. Intellectual property is already a big business among companies. Expanding the monopolies has the effect of allowing companies to negotiate and cross-licensing technology. Microsoft, as recently reported on the Wall Street Journal, is looking to expand the licensing of its technologies, after successfully licensing some video decoders to open source groups.

The concept of product patent for pharmaceutical products is likely to make life saving medicine beyond the reach of the poor and deprived section of the society around the world.

Another important feature of the pharmaceutical industry was the fact in that in many countries it was

Firstly, with laws to protect intellectual properties, it prevent and stop other companies from commercially using the protected intellectual properties in the marketplace, allowing the owner company to control the usage of their original