NationStates Jolt Archive

A proposal has been entered for the UN approval:

Recognizing that companies spend a lot of money on doing genome research,

yet recognizing that the genome research is globally important and potentially benefiting for the majority of the world's population,

let there be a maximum of 10 year limit on any patents companies may create on factual parts of their genome research, making the resulting knowledge freely available to all the UN member states' genome research programs at the expiry of the patent.


I'd be glad to know if you have any comments on the issue.

Wouldn't longer limits provide more of an incentive for research?

The research is happening anyways, both on international and national levels.

The difference is that state-funded research sometimes bumps into restrictions imposed by some corporate research.

Consider, if you patent your research on some part of genome, and discover a part existence or absence of which can reasonably predict whether you are going to have brain cancer in 5 years time.

You patent that discovery, and you sell the diagnostic machinery.

All the other medical companies can't make any drugs, nor their own machinery, without paying you a hefty fee for using the knowledge of genome part, which you patented. That's basically monopoly.

You deserve some time to reap the rewards of your R&D, however, the things genetics deal with are too important to be left under a corporation's control for long.

We need the competition not only in research, but also in development of usage for the things discovered.

You are aware that corporate research can apply for most of the same financing grants as academic research? Much of the genome research making headway has been corporately backed.

Patents are already set for a limited time. Why specify this only for a shorter patent duration? Why not all of pharma? Why not the entire medical field? Why not all patents?

Also, patents are issued for varying durations from country to country.

I think another approach is needed here. Perhaps create some incentive to release genome information into public domain, while retaining various information regarding technique at discovery and treatments based upon that information within the private IP portfolios. This way, genome information is open and can be learned from, while already generated use of that information can remain protected and used as an incentive for continued research into various gene therapies.

A proposal has been entered for the UN approval:

Recognizing that companies spend a lot of money on doing genome research,

yet recognizing that the genome research is globally important and potentially benefiting for the majority of the world's population,

let there be a maximum of 10 year limit on any patents companies may create on factual parts of their genome research, making the resulting knowledge freely available to all the UN member states' genome research programs at the expiry of the patent.

I'd be glad to know if you have any comments on the issue.

I'll agree to this if you change it from 10 to 14-16 years. While I agree that patents shouldn't last forever, 10 years is a bit too short. The US Constitution in the 1700s and 1800s had a patent protection length of 14 years. Now it's the life of the inventor plus another 30 years, which I believe is excessive. I personally like 16 since it's a perfect square.

For once I agree with TGM. Patents are vital to protect intellectual property as well as to provide continued incentive for research. Ten years is a bit too short. New Clarkhall would support this proposal if the patent protection time were extended to about double that (~15-20 years), which we feel would be sufficient time for a corporation to make up its R&D costs.

For once I agree with TGM. Patents are vital to protect intellectual property as well as to provide continued incentive for research. Ten years is a bit too short. New Clarkhall would support this proposal if the patent protection time were extended to about double that (~15-20 years), which we feel would be sufficient time for a corporation to make up its R&D costs.

We may be developing a consensus here. So what do you say, Radiant? Are you willing to compromise?

You are aware that corporate research can apply for most of the same financing grants as academic research? Much of the genome research making headway has been corporately backed.

Patents are already set for a limited time. Why specify this only for a shorter patent duration? Why not all of pharma? Why not the entire medical field? Why not all patents?

Also, patents are issued for varying durations from country to country.

I think another approach is needed here. Perhaps create some incentive to release genome information into public domain, while retaining various information regarding technique at discovery and treatments based upon that information within the private IP portfolios. This way, genome information is open and can be learned from, while already generated use of that information can remain protected and used as an incentive for continued research into various gene therapies.

The current time for a patent to run out is the life of the author plus thirty years in the US. And there is actually a proposal to make it life plus fifty. Now that's just ridiculous. At the very most it should be life. Otherwise, you are just giving more power to middlemen. I'm in favor of perhaps 18 years or life whichever comes first; the number can be adjusted later.

~15-20 years), which we feel would be sufficient time for a corporation to make up its R&D costs.

We may be developing a consensus here. So what do you say, Radiant? Are you willing to compromise?

Of course, I have no problem with that. 10 years might've been a bit too drastic. Do we vote on it and then pass an amendment, or what? I am afraid I had already submitted the proposal.