Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review Volume 19 | Issue 2 2013 Fracking Patents: The meE rgence of Patents as Information-Containment Tools in Shale Drilling Daniel R. Cahoy Pennsylvania State University Joel Gehman University of Alberta Zhen Lei Pennsylvania State University Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.law.umich.edu/mttlr Part of the Environmental Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons, and the Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law Commons Recommended Citation Daniel R. Cahoy, Joel Gehman & Zhen Lei, Fracking Patents: The Emergence of Patents as Information-Containment Tools in Shale Drilling, 19 Mich. Telecomm. & Tech. L. Rev. 279 (2013). Available at: http://repository.law.umich.edu/mttlr/vol19/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. FRACKING PATENTS: THE EMERGENCE OF PATENTS AS INFORMATION-CONTAINMENT TOOLS IN SHALE DRILLING Daniel R. Cahoy* Joel Gehman** Zhen Lei*** Cite as: Daniel R. Cahoy, Joel Gehman & Zhen Lei, Fracking Patents: The Emergence of Patents as Information-Containment Tools in Shale Drilling, 19 MICH. TELECOMM. & TECH. L. REv 279 (2013), available at http://www.mttlr.org/volnineteen/cahoy.pdf The advantages of new sources of energy must be weighed against en- vironmental, health, and safety concerns related to new production technology. The rapid development of unconventional oil and gas fields, such as the Barnett and Marcellus Shales, provide an excellent context for these contrasting goals.