Welcome to yalepatents.org
- A patent is a monopoly and privilege granted by society to encourage the development of practical technology from knowledge or an idea.
- Patents are granted to academic, biomedical researchers in order to ease the transition from breakthrough discovery to useful, therapeutic technology, which is the primary goal of biomedical research.
- Breakthrough discoveries in the biomedical science are revelations of innate physical and chemical properties of our bodies.
- The traditional goal of a university, including the researchers working within it, is to seek and distribute knowledge for the benefit of humanity.
Thus:
- As a society, we should understand the trade-offs involved in bestowing patents on basic biological discoveries, which are largely made possible by taxpayer-funded, federal grants.
- Researchers and the broader university community should discuss and investigate whether patents are consistent with the goals of academic science.
yalepatents.org seeks to accomplish these goals for the Yale community by:
- Summarizing Yale patents for non-experts.
- Starting an instructive, local discussion about the merits and ethical implications of patents on Yale research.
