In the macroeconomic literature about the relationship between R&D investment and economic growth as it is observed across different countries, there is thoughtful commentary about how intellectual property regimes that are too strict can inhibit the ability of R&D investment to drive economic growth.~1 In the history of the technology transfer of the invention of the drug-eluting coronary stent, we have an example where the set of international patents protecting the intellectual property of the invention allowed successful commercialization of the product.~2 The patent protection however did not prevent the entry of new firms with their competing patented versions of the drug-eluting coronary stent. The rivalrous R&D investment of pharmaceutical and medical device companies competing in worldwide markets was vigorous, and a new generation of drug-eluting coronary stents was developed].
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