期刊名称：Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review
印刷版ISSN：1528-8625
出版年度：2013
卷号：19
期号：2
页码：279-377
出版社：University of Michigan Law School
摘要：The advantages of new sources of energy must be weighed against environmental, health, and safety concerns related to new production technology. The rapid development of unconventional oil and gas fields, such as the Barnett and Marcellus Shales, provide an excellent context for these contrasting goals. Information about extraction hazards is an extremely important issue. In general, patents are viewed as a positive force in this regard, providing a vehicle for disseminating information in exchange for a limited property right over an invention. However, by limiting the evaluation of an invention by third parties, patents might also be used to control the creation of new information. Such control is more likely in situations where third-party use and assessment may produce information damaging to the patent owner. This Article explores the relationship between patents and information control in the context of natural gas extraction. Understanding the role of a patent as an information-control mechanism is critical to the safe employment of new technology. If patents substantially limit information creation or disclosure, government intervention may be necessary to permit non-patentee experimental use along with environmental, health, and safety testing. Before patent rights are encumbered, however, options that exist under current law should be considered.
关键词：Patent law; Fracking; Hydraulic fracturing; Shale gas; Information; Access to information; Natural gas; Gas extraction; Technology; Disclosure; Patent rights
