ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical evaluation of the model of the Public Patent Foundation, and its role in 'patent-busting'. It contends that such a model can play a productive role in challenging the validity of high-profile patents; working as amicus curiae in significant court cases; and also promoting patent law reform. The chapter examines the role of the Public Patent Foundation in the landmark dispute in the United States over Myriad Genetics' patents in respect of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. It considers the role of the Public Patent Foundation in litigation between organic farmers and Monsanto in the United States and also examines the role of the Public Patent Foundation in larger debates about patent law reform in the United States particularly looking at the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act 2011. The chapter argues that the patent-busting model of the Public Patent Foundation should be emulated in respect of other technological fields, and other jurisdictions such as Australia.
