The German Way of Dealing with “The Tragedy of the Anticommons” – Purpose-Bound Protection for Product Patents on Genetic Information in Germany
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Niclas Kunczik
Abstract
The phenomenon of “the tragedy of the anticommons”
Making decisions in the European Union and transforming them into legal instruments can sometimes become a life-task. Although it took a whole decade to adopt the European Communities “Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions”, the political and legal dispute about ”patents on life” was not settled at all. Some member states – the Netherlands, supported by Italy and Norway – took this issue to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) seeking the annulment of the Directive. The Court dismissed this appeal in 2001. But the discussion about ”patents on life” did not end. Even though it has been a somehow accepted fact that patents on living materials including human DNA are being granted, an even more heated discussion is focusing on the scope of those gene-patents. The question is if it is acceptable to allow the classical scope protection for gene sequences, or if the patent protection should be limited to the specific use disclosed in the patent application (“purpose-bound protection”).
Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Biosafety Regulation Trends in Southern and Southeastern Asia
- Property in a Human Body: A Common Law Approach
- Pharmacogenomics: An In-House Advantage?
- The German Way of Dealing with “The Tragedy of the Anticommons” – Purpose-Bound Protection for Product Patents on Genetic Information in Germany
- Pharmacogenomics and Data Protection
- Development and Implications of Patent Law
- Life Sciences and Biotechnology
- Declaration on Human Cloning
- Gene Therapy in PR China: Regulations and Ethical Concerns
- Biotechnological Potential of Marine Sponges and their Associated Bacteria as Producers of New Pharmaceuticals (Part I)
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Biosafety Regulation Trends in Southern and Southeastern Asia
- Property in a Human Body: A Common Law Approach
- Pharmacogenomics: An In-House Advantage?
- The German Way of Dealing with “The Tragedy of the Anticommons” – Purpose-Bound Protection for Product Patents on Genetic Information in Germany
- Pharmacogenomics and Data Protection
- Development and Implications of Patent Law
- Life Sciences and Biotechnology
- Declaration on Human Cloning
- Gene Therapy in PR China: Regulations and Ethical Concerns
- Biotechnological Potential of Marine Sponges and their Associated Bacteria as Producers of New Pharmaceuticals (Part I)
