Publications

September 2010 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals: Building Value from the IP Estate

By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai

The learning objective of this case is to help students recognize the interplay between intellectual property (IP) rights and corporate strategy. We do this by examining what is a fairly atypical circumstance today in which a single firm is able to secure what it... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Rights; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

March 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences

By: Willy Shih, Sen Chai, Kamen Bliznashki and Courtney Hyland

Gordon Zong is trying to teach Chinese universities and research institutes how to do effective technology transfer and IP licensing, but he is trying to do it in an environment with weak property rights and an underdeveloped support infrastructure. As the managing... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Patents; Knowledge Management; Law Enforcement; Business and Government Relations; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; China

July 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Miracle Therapeutics: Negotiating an IP License (A)

By: Satish Tadikonda, Michael Singer, William Marks and Wendi Yajnik

(General Experience Case) Beth Sharp and Jennifer Brilliant founded Miracle Therapeutics based on intellectual property developed by Brilliant and her post-doctoral student, John Supreme, in Brilliant’s lab at Elite University (EU). Miracle will have to obtain a... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Patents; Negotiation Process

2022
Article

Before Plagiarism: Lawyers and Copynorms in Europe, 1300-1600

By: Robert Fredona and Sophus A. Reinert

This essay uses the concept of 'copynorms', social norms about copying expressive works that can be distinct from legal norms about the same, in order to understand the meaning of intellectual property among Roman law and canon law jurists from the fourteenth through... View Details

Keywords: Copyright; History; Europe

17 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

Protecting against the Pirates of Bollywood

considering American films had made great inroads in other countries. So she started to investigate a potential link between the disappointing box-office receipts and intellectual property (IP) law. In the... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Motion Pictures & Video

Teaching Interest

Strategy and Technology

Overview

This course explores the unique aspects of creating effective management and investment strategies for technology-intensive businesses. What are effective strategies for winning in markets with strong network effects? How should... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technology

January 2018
Case

Spark Therapeutics: Pioneering Gene Therapy

By: Robert F. Higgins and Tina Liu

Spark Therapeutics is a pioneering gene therapy startup. It was spun out of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The company had taken with it much of the intellectual property and talent that CHOP had developed. The company is considering an initial public... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Opportunities; Problems and Challenges; Strategy

15 Nov 2017
HBS Seminar

William Mann, UCLA Anderson

Research Summary

Strategy and Technology

By: David B. Yoffie

Professor Yoffie’s research examines different aspects of strategy and technology. His most recent research has focused on three areas. The first research topic looks at the dynamics of cooperation and competition among “complements.” In a number of articles and... View Details

February 2018
Background Note

Patent Trolling

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers and George Hou

The U.S. Intellectual Property (IP) Ecosystem is one of the most robust and dynamic in the world—and has been for centuries. The bedrock of this system is the "patent," a legal document that allows its holder exclusive commercialization rights of a part of the "idea... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; United States

20 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: December 20

results across various studies. The findings are discussed with regard to the boundary conditions and potential underlying processes of the UTE. Working PapersThe Impact of Modularity on Intellectual View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

07 Mar 2019
HBS Seminar

Petra Moser, NYU Stern School of Business

March 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Myelin Repair Foundation: Accelerating Drug Discovery Through Collaboration

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Paul R. Carlile

This case presents the Myelin Repair Foundation's accelerated research collaboration model for drug discovery. It highlights the challenges of building a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research collaboration that is attempting to create a treatment for... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Intellectual Property; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategic Planning; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Health Disorders; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

December 2010 (Revised March 2015)
Case

The Wright Brothers and Their Flying Machines

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville (1871-1948) Wright were fascinated by the mystery of flight and they built on the ideas of prominent earlier figures such as Octave Chanute (1832-1910) the French-born American who was influential in fostering the free exchange of ideas... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business History; Technological Innovation; Patents; Knowledge Sharing; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; United States

September 2024
Background Note

Copyright and Fair Use

By: David B. Yoffie

The U.S. Copyright Office defines a copyright as “a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression.” Two core principles of copyright are originality and fixation. A work is... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Copyright; Lawsuits and Litigation; United States