Critical Issues Relating to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Biotechnology: Developing Countriess Perspective and India

Abstract

Till recently, life forms used to be exempted from patenting. However, developments in biotechnology are compelling for revising the approach towards the intellectual property rights regime applicable to the field of biotechnology. Such changes in approach covers a wide range of issues, such as the range of product patents and the patentability of genes, gene sequences and parts of gene-sequences derived from human, animals, plants or microorganisms. Moreover, patenting, especially of human body parts, has posed an ethical limit for biotechnology itself. Consequently, in the light of these developments in biotechnology, the profile of patent regime is fast changing, especially in the developed world. The international trade regime under WTO is yet to address these challenges emanating from advancements in biotechnology. As uncertainty continues with regard to the meaning of the term ‘microorganism’ and the difference between ‘biological’ and ‘microbiological’ processes, some countries argue at TRIPS forum that life forms and living creatures should not be patented raising moral and ethical issues. Some developing countries argue that the TRIPS Agreement should specifically take account of issues, like allowing farmers to save, use, sow, exchange and share the seeds they have harvested and preventing anti-competitive practices, which threaten their ‘food sovereignty’. Many developing countries are yet to put in place national legislations to position themselves vis-a-vis international negotiations at the WTO, which calls for consistent support and capacity building exercises by the international community to enable them to overcome the infrastructural and institutional hurdles. This paper attempts to critically analyze various dimensions of intellectual property right issues, which relate to the filed of biotechnology, and tries to highlight the developing countries perspective in this regard with a focus on India, on these matters.