Myriad Post-Myriad
Charting the course of science and human destiny, Nobel Laureate James Watson announced: “We used to think our future was in the stars. Now we know our future is in the genes.” If “our future” meant the future of business and industry, the prediction would have ended with “our future is in data.” The battle over gene patenting, as I argue here, is largely about data. While many welcome limitations on gene patenting and putting genes into the public domain, the benefits of data-mining and the emerging markets for precision medicine through genomics should not be ignored.
The US Supreme Court’s 2013 decision, holding patent claims to isolated, endogenous DNA sequences to be invalid, seemed to have limited negative impact on Myriad Genetics whose patent on the isolated BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were at the heart of the case …
Competition in Digital Markets
How should we understand competition in markets where data is an implicit commodity in the transaction? This Chapter argues that we should understand markets in data as an example of a market for joint products, namely the commodity that the purchaser is receiving and the data revealed to the seller. This model of joint products has implications for competition policy even in environments that might seem to be competitive as to price. Therefore, competition authorities should pay special attention to competition law enforcement in settings involving transfer of data. The Chapter provides numerous examples and options for competition authorities to shape their policy responses …