Access

Feature

Nature Biotechnology 26, 183–185 (1 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/nbt0208-183

Recent Supreme Court decisions and licensing power

Jennifer Giordano-Coltart & Charles W Calkins

Perhaps more so than in any other area of business, intellectual property, particularly patents, is the key asset of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Universities, emerging pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and the research and development units of larger pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies protect their investments in research, and their investors, by filing for patents.