Beyond Incentives: Expanding the Theoretical Framework for Patent Law Analysis
The Article proceeds as follows: Part II provides the necessary background with respect to the economic analysis of patent law in general and the economic analysis of cumulative innovation in particular.20 Part II also highlights the shortcomings of such analyses. Parts III and IV present the theories at the center of this Article—the labor theory and the personality theory, respectively—and analyze the case of cumulative innovation in light of each of these theories. Part V concludes with a summary and specific recommendations, including proposals to adopt a wide experimental use exception, to include the exploitation of follow-on inventions within the scope of the original patent, and to apply liability rules in case the inventors fail to reach a voluntary agreement allowing such exploitation.
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