The present paper discusses the decision earlier this year of Judge Robert W. Sweet of the District Court for the Southern District of New York to deny patent protection for isolated human genes and associated diagnostic methods. The case related to genetic tests for familial breast and ovarian...

The political changes in Central and Eastern Europe have prompted a wave of legislative reforms in the area of industrial property law. The present article aims to examine the current legal scene as to the protection of new plants and animals in the Russian Federation in the context of the...

On July 5 2000 the European Commission proposed the creation of a Community patent to give inventors the option of obtaining a single patent legally valid throughout the European Union. The Lisbon European Council cited the creation of a Community patent as an essential part of Europe's efforts...

For the last 25 years we have seen a flood of new developments and new applications in the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering. The question facing researchers, patent practitioners, patent authorities, courts and legislators is whether or not, and if yes, to which extent, protection...

Traditionally, economic progress is considered to be one of the common interpretations of public interest. Recently, consensus has grown that public interest also includes public health objectives. The present paper examines to what extent the concept of public interest can be understood to...

Belgium takes the equitable sharing objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity to heart and intends to require information on the geographical origin of biological material. From a strictly legal point of view, current Belgian patent law does not offer a gate of entry for such an origin...

In their animated book 'The Patent Crisis and How the Courts can Solve It', Dan Burk and Mark Lemley give an account of their quest into the judicial treatment of patents in different industry sectors. They present an in-depth commentary on industry specific differences in the patent system from...

Over the past years we have witnessed patents related to in vitro diagnostic methods, as well as patents on human genes. Although patents on diagnostics and patents on human genes are not novel, patents on genes for diagnostics are a rather unseen combination. The grant by the European Patent...

Concerns have been expressed that gene patents might result in restricted access to research and health care. The exponential growth of patents claiming human DNA sequences might result in patent thickets, royalty stacking and, ultimately, a ‘tragedy of the anti-commons’ in genetics. The...

Upon request of the Netherlands Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality a study has been conducted into the future of plant breeding in the light of developments around plant breeder’s rights and patent rights. The following questions were formulated: Present a review of the trends in...