How to Invent and Protect Your Invention: A Guide to Patents for Scientists and Engineers

14.4 RESULTS OF IGNORANCE OF THE PATENT SYSTEM

We submit that ignorance of the patent system may have devastating consequences. This conclusion is well illustrated by the history of the first antibiotic, penicillin, arguably the greatest discovery in medicine in the twentieth century. Penicillin was discovered accidentally in 1928 by Alexander Fleming (a Scottish professor of microbiology, Nobel Prize winner in physiology and medicine in 1945). Unfortunately, Fleming rushed to publish his observations and did not bother with patenting because he wanted to dedicate his discovery to humanity. Due to Fleming's apparent ignorance of or disregard for the patent system, humankind had to wait for more than a decade before companies had sufficient financial incentive to invest in penicillin, which became a life-saving treatment for millions of people. Had Fleming protected (patented) penicillin, companies perhaps would have had incentive earlier to invest in developing and manufacturing the therapy and humankind could have had the treatment much earlier. Mass production of penicillin started only in 1945, after companies discovered patentable manufacturing processes for the drug.

Fleming's failure to patent was referred to during the famous senate “Drug Hearings” in 1960. The following exchange of words took place between Senator Kefauver and Dr. Vannevar Bush, the Head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development during the World War II penicillin effort and subsequently the chairman ...