Die Patentierung biotechnologischer Erfindungen Aktuelle Debatte und Perspektiven: Ein Tagungsbericht

Abstract

This is a report on the seminar “Patenting Biotechnological Inventions: Debates and Perspectives” which ERA organised in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Chancellery and the Austrian Patent Office under the auspices of the 2006 Austrian presidency of the European Union. The purpose of the seminar was to take stock of the current status of the implementation of Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions and its practical application in the Member States. The report first deals with the presentations made to the plenary on the first day of the conference, with a focus on practical experience with the Directive. The origins of the Directive are explained and the Directive is analysed from an economic, ethical and practical point of view. The second part of the report sums up the discussions and conclusions of the three different working groups which met on the second day of the seminar. One working group dealt with “Patenting of Genes and Gene Sequences”, another examined the problems of “Licensing” and the third looked at the “Transposition [of the Directive] into National Law”. The report closes with a resume of some conclusions on the subject.