Journal article
Oligopolist Speech and the Public Interest in Pharmaceutical Patent Law Reform
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, Vol.33(1), pp.1-20
2018
Abstract
Understandings of the public interest underpin many law reform processes. The public interest is not a fully definable term and so reform bodies have to engage with a range of articulations of that interest. The negotiation of the different articulations, however, has not been explored empirically before. This article reports on a study of the claims to the public interest in a public Australian inquiry into potential abuses of the patent system by pharmaceutical companies. More specifically, submissions to the Pharmaceutical Patents Review are analysed and the results show “oligopolistic” tensions between competing views of the public interest—and with these views claiming primacy over more technical understandings of the issues. This lack of a single “public interest” allows dominant players to frame the debate to reflect their interests; and the tension between these players means that the debate, and the underlying problem, has not been subject to a resolution.
Details
- Title
- Oligopolist Speech and the Public Interest in Pharmaceutical Patent Law Reform
- Authors/Creators
- C. Dent (Author/Creator)Y. Haigh (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- Canadian Journal of Law and Society / Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, Vol.33(1), pp.1-20
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Identifiers
- 991005542798607891
- Copyright
- © 2018 Canadian Law and Society Association / Association Canadienne Droit et Société
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Law
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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