Impressive Thesis and Performance

(IPRinfo3/2007)

Arvosteltu teos: Aura Soininen: Patents in the Information and Communications Technology Sector – Development Trends, Problem Areas and Pressures for Change
Acta Universitatis Lappeenrantaensis 262. Lappeenranta 2007. ISBN 978-952-214-343-3

This article is based on Bently’s statement as the opponent of Aura Soininen. Selected and abridged by IPR University Center.

The topic is an important and not uncontroversial one. Research investment and patenting in this sector is extensive. There are important debates about whether patents are helpful in this sphere. Ms Soininen’s thesis acknowledges the existence of such debates, but is not primarily normative in its aims. Rather it is intended as a descriptive analysis of law in practice as opposed to law on the books.

All the articles, as well as the summary are clearly and elegantly written, as well as being very well-structured. The work is very impressively researched and footnoted. The references and bibliography testify to research endeavour of a very high standard.
The first article offers new scientific knowledge by bringing together work that has not hitherto been juxtaposed in this way. The integration of material on law, policy and corporate strategy prompts important questions as to whether law/policy adequately reflect changing corporate policies and approaches. There is a careful analysis of the different reasons why different businesses acquire patents and how they use them.

The creation and presentation of the empirical data, based on questionairres and interviews with ICT firms in San Francisco and Finland, constitutes important new scientific knowledge in the field. Re-reading the article prior to the opposition, I found more and more matters of interest in the detail. It is impossible for policy-makers to address the big questions about patents and ICT sector without first understanding the different ways in which patents are used and misused. Ms Soininen’s thesis provides material in which policy-makers can ground normative analysis. As such, it is a significant contribution.

The second and third articles are an impressive exploration of the specific topic. Particularly significant is Soininen’s attention to the detail of the policies employed by standard setting organisations, and her knowledge of a range of disparate legal doctrines in a number of jurisdictions. Her analysis is clear, careful and demonstrates good judgment.

Overall, Ms Soininen’s thesis and her performance in the opposition were impressive. The thesis itself is better than many I have examined in the UK and elsewhere, and the performance in the opposition was the best performance in an oral examination that I can recall. The respondent was very much on top of her subject and spoke with remarkable composure, clarity and good-sense in what must be regarded as a high-pressure environment.

Lionel Bently
Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law
University of Cambridge

Aura Soininen’s dissertation Patents in the information and communications technology sector – development trends, problem areas and pressures for change was published in the publications series of the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Acta Universitatis Lappeenrantaensis, 262 (ISBN 978-952-214-343-3)