Daniel R. Cahoy

Patent landscaping for life sciences innovation: toward consistent and transparent practices

As industry, governments and academia increasingly rely on patent landscapes to map scientific and technological trends, an interdisciplinary workshop provides recommendations for developing consistent and transparent landscaping practices.

Fracking Patents: The Emergence of Patents as Information Containment Tools in Shale Drilling

The advantages of new sources of energy must often be weighed against environmental, health and safety concerns related to new production technology. The rapid development of unconventional oil and gas fields, such as the Barnett and Marcellus Shales, are no exception. Information about extraction hazards is an extremely important issue. In general, patents are viewed as a positive force in this regard, providing a vehicle for disseminating information in exchange for a limited property right over an invention. However, there is an emerging recognition that patents can also be used to control the creation of new information by limiting the evaluation of an invention by third parties. Such control is more likely in situations where third-party use and assessment may produce information damaging to the patent owner. This paper will explore the relationship between patents and information control in the context of natural gas extraction. It will describe the substantial growth of patents in hydraulic fracturing, the technology used to extract gas from the widely discussed Marcellus Shale in the eastern United States. The paper will then explain how patents on hydraulic fracturing fluids could potentially be used to prevent testing by third parties. Analogies in agricultural biotech and genetic treatments are used to support these claims. An understanding of the role of patents as information control mechanisms is critical to the safe employment of new technology. If patents substantially limit information creation or disclosure, government intervention to permit experimental use and environmental, health and safety testing may be necessary. However, options do exist under current law that should be considered before patent rights are encumbered.

Toward a strategic view of higher education social responsibilities: A dynamic capabilities approach:

The social responsibilities of higher education serve as the foundation for its existence. Within an increasingly global context, society expects colleges and universities to undertake new and increasingly complex social responsibilities that expand traditional higher education missions while emphasizing new obligations such as economic development and sustainability. Higher education institutions have responded by adding new programs and services—such as new degree programs, equity and inclusion offices, and training for older workers—and aggressively pursuing new sources of revenue in support of their missions. Despite these considerable efforts, there is a growing sense that higher education is not adequately fulfilling its social responsibilities. We contend that these trends do not stem from intransigence, but are instead symptomatic of the need for strategic management frameworks tailored to the unique social responsibilities and impacts of higher education. To this end, we introduce a strategic social responsibility framework based on the emergent concept of dynamic capabilities. Strategic social responsibility emphasizes the establishment and continuing renewal of an orchestration infrastructure that enables colleges and universities to maximize their social impact through the alignment of strategy and resources. Implications for future scholarship and policy are discussed.