Perspectives on Patenting Biological Material

Perspectives on Patenting Biological Material
Margaret Llewelyn

ISBN 9789041199263
Kluwer Law International

The globalisation of the bioscience industry, together with the asserted need for strong monopoly protection over the results of this investment-intensive research, has pushed the issue of intellectual property rights over genetic material to the top of the international legal agenda. However, whilst those pressing for the availability of strong protection may have thought that the question of whether such protection should be available has been resolved with the adoption of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) within the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the reality is that there is continued disagreement at both the national and
global level as to the extent to which private rights can, and should, be available over genetic information.