The International Treatment of Biological Material as Intellectual Property
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William A. Kerr
Abstract
The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization was negotiated prior to the commercialization of any plant-based biotechnology. While the negotiators of the TRIPS anticipated biotechnology a number of important international issues in the treatment of biological material as intellectual property have arisen in the wake of commercialization. This paper analyses the international treatment of biotechnology and other plant genetic resources in the light of this experience. In particular, the problem of monopoly rents, the differential treatment of scientific discovery versus traditional knowledge in international intellectual property law and differences in scientific capacity are examined. The paper ends with some suggestions for the reform of the international regime for the protection of intellectual property.
© Walter de Gruyter
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- The Coexistence of Genetically Modified Crops with Other Forms of Farming: The Regulation by EU Member States in the Light of EC Law
- Use of Genetic Test Information in Life Insurance: An Evaluation of Different Regulatory Models
- The International Treatment of Biological Material as Intellectual Property
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- The new EU Regulatory Framework for GM Food (Part I) Procedural aspects: safety assessment, authorisation and administrative review
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Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- The Coexistence of Genetically Modified Crops with Other Forms of Farming: The Regulation by EU Member States in the Light of EC Law
- Use of Genetic Test Information in Life Insurance: An Evaluation of Different Regulatory Models
- The International Treatment of Biological Material as Intellectual Property
- Application of the ‘Precautionary Principle’ in the 2000 Biosafety Protocol to the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity
- The new EU Regulatory Framework for GM Food (Part I) Procedural aspects: safety assessment, authorisation and administrative review
- Regulation on Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms in Australia
- Biotechnology Law in The Socialist Republic of Vietnam
