Over 400 U.S. patents contain citations to retracted scientific papers
4 hours ago
- A study found 401 U.S. patents cite retracted scientific papers, out of over 13 million patents analyzed.
- Of the patents citing retracted papers, 195 cited them before filing, 92 during examination, and 114 after grant.
- Researcher Hana Kim argues patent systems should link to retraction databases to easily identify flawed citations.
- An audit of 39 high-impact patents with retracted citations found 19 relied substantially on the retracted papers.
- Experts note that U.S. patent law has no formal retraction process, and inaccurate information can persist in patents.
- Critics highlight that patent errors, unlike journal retractions, are difficult to correct and can mislead future research.