“PATENT USE EXCEPTION FOR USER-GENERATED INVENTIONS. THE MAKER MOVEMENT MEETS PATENT LAW” Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde einer Hohen Juristischen Fakultät der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität zu München vorgelegt von Natalia Weronika Lukaszewicz 2015 Referent: Prof. Dr. Annette Kur Korreferent: Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Thomas Jaeger, LL.M. Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 20. Juni 2016 2 CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH ................................................................................................... 7 1.1 RESEARCH CONTEXT ......................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................................. 9 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................. 10 1.4 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................. 12 1.5 COMPOSITION OF THE WORK ........................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2. WHO ARE MAKERS? ..................................................................................................................14 2.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 14 2.2 THE CONCEPT OF INNOVATION ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1 The Degree of Departure ................................................................................................................... 18 2.2.2 The Offer of Makers .......................................................................................................................... 19 2.3 MAKING A PLACE FOR MAKERS ........................................................................................................................ 22 2.3.1 Historical Insight ................................................................................................................................ 22 2.3.2 Intangible Resources – Speed instead of Size ................................................................................... 25 2.3.3 Embedding Customer Knowledge into Business Strategies .............................................................. 27 2.3.3.1 The Concepts of Co-creation and Co-production ........................................................................................ 27 2.3.3.2 DIYers and Technological Makers ............................................................................................................... 29 2.4 AN ESCAPE FROM LABELLING – CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MOVEMENT ..................................................................... 32 2.4.1 Communities ..................................................................................................................................... 32 2.4.2 Open Sharing ..................................................................................................................................... 33 2.5 THE ADOPTED MODEL OF MAKING ................................................................................................................... 36 2.6 THE MAKER MOVEMENT MEETS PATENT LAW .................................................................................................... 38 2.6.1 3D Systems Inc. v Formlabs and Kickstarter ...................................................................................... 38 2.6.2 Stratasys v Afinia ............................................................................................................................... 39 2.7 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ................................................................................................................................ 41 CHAPTER 3. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PATENT SYSTEM .................................................................................43 3.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 43 3.2 THE BRIEF HISTORY OF PATENTS ....................................................................................................................... 44 3.3 CHOSEN PATENT THEORIES .............................................................................................................................. 47 3.3.1 Patent as a Natural Property Right .................................................................................................... 47 3.3.2 Patent as an Incentive to Invest ........................................................................................................ 48 3.3.3 Patent as an Incentive to Disclose ..................................................................................................... 49 3.3.4 Reward (Compensation) Theory ........................................................................................................ 49 3.3.5 The Prospect Theory.......................................................................................................................... 50 3 3.3.6 Theory versus Practice. Concluding Thoughts ................................................................................... 51 3.4 MAKERS IN THE FIELD OF PATENTS ..................................................................................................................... 52 3.4.1 Natural Property ................................................................................................................................ 52 3.4.2 Monopoly & Prospect........................................................................................................................ 54 3.4.3 Disclosure .......................................................................................................................................... 54 3.4.5 Patent Scope...................................................................................................................................... 56 3.4.6 Patent Term ....................................................................................................................................... 57 3.4.7 Patent Quality .................................................................................................................................... 58 3.4.8 Patentable Subject Matters ............................................................................................................... 62 3.4.9 The Patent Landscape ....................................................................................................................... 66 3.5 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ................................................................................................................................ 71 CHAPTER 4. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PATENT EXCEPTIONS ...................................................................73 4.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 73 4.2 THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AS THE INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR PATENT EXCEPTIONS ............................................ 75 4.2.1 Limited Exceptions to the Effect of a Patent – Article 30 TRIPS ........................................................ 78 4.2.2 The Three-step Test for Patents ........................................................................................................ 80 4.2.2.1 The First Step – Limited Exception .............................................................................................................. 81 4.2.2.2 The Second Step – Normal Exploitation ...................................................................................................... 83 4.2.2.3 The Third Step – Legitimate Interest ........................................................................................................... 84 4.2.2.4 Concluding Thoughts .................................................................................................................................. 85 4.3 THE EUROPEAN CATALOGUE OF EXCEPTIONS ....................................................................................................... 85 4.4 GENERAL PROFILES OF THE COMPARED PATENT SYSTEMS ...................................................................................... 92 4.5 STATUTORY LIMITATIONS................................................................................................................................. 95 4.5.1 Private and Non-commercial Use ...................................................................................................... 95 4.5.2 Experimental Use .............................................................................................................................. 99 4.5.2.1. Germany .................................................................................................................................................. 100 4.5.2.2 The United Kingdom ................................................................................................................................. 102 4.5.2.3 The United States .....................................................................................................................................