Markets-as-practice: How core market actors are dealing with uncertainty related to Intellectual Property (IP) regulations in pharma

Universität Innsbruck

Today’s patent system is facing a paradox. It has never been as successful as today in terms of the number of patents filed and granted annually worldwide, while, at the same time, it faces severe criticism. Increasingly, practices related to patenting (e.g., blocking competitors through patenting) are found to replace the mere protection function of patents, with impacts for firms and society as a whole, as it affects innovation, price setting, and consumer and social welfare. Based on literature that can be located in organization studies and economic sociology, I explore uncertainties, practices related to patenting, and its relation to market developments. In particular, I seek to explore how core market actors are dealing with uncertainty related to Intellectual Property (IP) regulations in pharma, and in which way those practices shape markets. Based on semi structured interviews with managers, patent attorneys and scientists, as well as observations of law firms and pharma firms, I show how patenting practices are used to mitigate and cope with, but also to induce uncertainties for third parties in the market society. As such, IP is not only a response to, but also a source of uncertainty. I contribute to the understanding of ‘markets-as-practices’ by showing how Intellectual Property (IP) regulations and markets are not static but only enacted through a set of distinct practices deriving from and inducing economic, regulatory and scientific uncertainties. This holds implications for practitioners and regulatory policy making.

Project not yet completed