That Monsanto, one of the most significant contributors to this research, has placed conditions on the use of its intellectual property or charges for access to its property is neither extraordinary nor problematic: Licensing agreements are complicated affairs, running into the dozens of pages, and they always preserve a range of protections for the patent holder.

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Some generics firms are now agreeing to delay their launches not for cash but for a promise from the patent-holder to delay or cancel the launch of its authorised generic.

ECONOMIST: Generic drugs and competition