Patents and prizes benefit each other
Sichelman 17’ *Professor at the University of San Diego School of Law (Ted Sichelman, 2017, “Patents, Prizes, and Property,” https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/digestImages/a13-Sichelman_Round5Complete.pdf, GB)
Recent scholars have made great strides in advancing the perennial patents-prizes debate by largely dismantling the putative divide between the two means of advancing innovation. Yet, there remain important differences between the two systems regarding follow-on invention and commercialization. Specifically, the property rules of patent law provide unique benefits and impose unique costs that differentiate patent from prize systems. Nonetheless, my critique should not obscure the important ramifications of these scholars’ analyses. Rather than being stark alternatives, patents and prizes can often serve as complementary tools to enhance the social aim of innovation.