Abstract

In 2005, the US passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandating the construction and operation of a high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) by 2021. This law was passed after a multiyear study by national experts on what future nuclear technologies should be developed. As a result of the Act, the US Congress chose to develop the so-called Next-Generation Nuclear Plant, which was to be an HTGR designed to produce process heat for hydrogen production. Despite high hopes and expectations, the current status is that high temperature reactors have been relegated to completing research programs on advanced fuels, graphite and materials with no plans to build a demonstration plant as required by the US Congress in 2005. There are many reasons behind this diminution of HTGR development, including but not limited to insufficient government funding requirements for research, unrealistically high temperature requirements for the reactor, the delay in the need for a “hydrogen” economy, competition from light water small modular light water reactors, little utility interest in new technologies, very low natural gas prices in the US, and a challenging licensing process in the US for non-water reactors.

Abstract

We analyse different alternatives that facilitate the exploitation of intellectual property. Specifically, we deal with author’s rights. First we provide a general overview of the intellectual property concept and then we describe the rights management alternatives, including collective management and self management. Next, we analyse a selected set of  initiatives that enable users to self manage their intellectual property rights, by partially transferring them or by obtaining economic benefits in exchange. We finally propose the main features for a comprehensive intellectual property system and present the results and prototypes that our research group has obtained and developed.