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Many companies have proprietary resources and/or data that are indispensable for research, and academics provide the creative fuel for much early-stage research that leads to industrial innovation. It is essential to the health of the research enterprise that collaborations between industrial and university researchers flourish. This system of collaboration is under strain. Financial motivations driving product development have led to concerns that industry-sponsored research comes at the expense of transparency ( 1 ). Yet many industry researchers distrust quality control in academia ( 2 ) and question whether academics value reproducibility as much as rapid publication. Cultural differences between industry and academia can create or increase difficulties in reproducing research findings. We discuss key aspects of this problem that industry-academia collaborations must address and for which other stakeholders, from funding agencies to journals, can provide leadership and support.

Previously, we introduced the concept of “data-generating patents,” which are patented inventions that by design produce valuable data through their operation or use. When holders of data-generating patents possess market power over the patented invention, they often indirectly enjoy market power over the data generated by the invention. Here, we focus on concerns raised by biomedical data-generating patents, particularly in the context of the rise of “big data.” Data-generating patents are prevalent in the biomedical field and include patents covering genetic diagnostic tests, implantable and other medical devices, as well as consumer gadgets that track, store, and analyze information about patients and users.

An examination of three patents in the fast-moving iPS space may help determine their ultimate value.

Misuse Made Plain: Evaluating Concerns About Neuroscience in National Security Kelly Lowenberg a , Brenda M. Simon a , Amy Burns b , Libby Greismann c , Jennifer M. Halbleib b , Govind Persad b , David L.M. Preston c , Harker Rhodes b & Emily R. Murphy d a Stanford Law School Center for Law and the Biosciences , b Stanford Law School , c Stanford University , d Stanford Law School and Director of SIGNAL , Published online: 16 Apr 2010.

A look back shows that broad patents are a thing of the past and biotech inventors face heightened requirements for patentability.

Nat. Biotechnol. 28, 557–559 (2010); published online 7 June 2010; corrected after print 13 October 2010 In the version of this article initially published, the authors state: “The patents have been cross-licensed, protecting against unlicensed use of either method. Both the Sakurada and Yamanaka patents are part of the portfolio held by iPierian, a company recently formed by the merger of iZumi Bio, a San Francisco Bay Area biotech and Boston-based Pierian.