International Patent Law Research Articles

An historical development of patenting microorganisms and genetically engineered animals in the USA and Europe. Part 2. Developments in the EU.

Patent law was established to encourage useful invention, and it has proved itself to be adaptable to the latest technologies. Genetic engineering has, however, presented a unique challenge to the traditional requirements and scope of patentability in Europe and America. The USA has been responsive to the genetic engineering of animals when interpreting its law, due to the revolutionary Chackrabarty decision in 1980 which opened the way to the patenting of life forms. European law, guided by the European Patent Convention, has been less able to adapt quickly to the concept of animal patents. It was the historical Harvard Mouse that caught the world's attention, and since then animal patenting has been the focus of heated legal and social debate in Europe and America. Never before has international patent law had to address such a complex and lively issue.

An historical development of patenting microorganisms and genetically engineered animals in the USA and Europe.

Patent law was established to encourage useful invention, and it has proved itself to be adaptable to the latest technologies. Genetic engineering has, however, presented a unique challenge to the traditional requirements and scope of patentability in Europe and America. The USA has been responsive to the genetic engineering of animals when interpreting its law, due to the revolutionary Chackrabarty decision in 1980 which opened the way to the patenting of life forms. European law, guided by the European Patent Convention, has been less able to adapt quickly to the concept of animal patents. It was the historical Harvard Mouse that caught the world's attention, and since then animal patenting has been the focus of heated legal and social debate in Europe and America. Never before has international patent law had to address such a complex and lively issue.

Know-How Agreements and EEC Competition Law by Guillermo Cabanellas and Jose Massaguer (VCH Books and Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Compeitition Law, Munich, 1991), pp. 230, $96.50, ISBN 3-527-26005-6

Know-How Agreements and EEC Competition Law by Guillermo Cabanellas and Jose Massaguer (VCH Books and Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Compeitition Law, Munich, 1991), pp. 230, $96.50, ISBN 3-527-26005-6

THE PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

In a recent edition of the nation's favourite soap, Coronation Street, a small incident occurred which illustrated in a nutshell the problems facing the deviser of an industrial design in seeking to protect that design from being copied. Angie, a student of fashion design at the local polytechnic put on a successful show of her designs. Emboldened by the favourable reception she set out a couple of days later for an appointment with a local dress manufacturer to try and sell her designs. She returned a few hours later in tears and with hopes dashed. She had arrived at the firm only to discover that her designs were already being made up into dresses. The designs had been copied at the show and already sold to or copied by them. The incident was not without its silver lining in that in getting drunk to forget the whole sad affair this lead to a romantic interlude with fellow lodger, Curley Watts! It is the purpose of this article to examine the main strands of protection for industrial designs and to look at a proposed new European Community Design Law which has recently been published by the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law (Munich, 1991). This proposal is being put to the EC Commission as the basis for an EC Regulation.

How a patent conflict affects industrial R&D Management

The authors relate and analyse the case of a long‐running patent conflict between two very large multinational firms in the synthetic fibre business ‐ AKZO and Du Pont. The subject of the conflict was a new fibre of the aramid dass. They show that the case reveals deficiencies in international patent law in need of correction.The analysis is conducted with the aid of social network theory applied to pub‐lished information and data supplied by AKZO and other sources. The theory takes as its starting point that when a number of related functional groups unite behind a common and vital interest the pursuit of this interest becomes virtually unstoppable. In this case the crucial social network was formed first within AKZO and then extended outside to include politicians and government. It propelled the firm to pursue to the end attempts to by‐pass a patent position held by Du Pont.The paper reveals that an apparently strong patent position can actually help a rival to circumvent it. This defect in the patent law is leading companies to avoid patenting and to rely instead on secrecy alone. The authors believe that this will act against the public interest, for exam‐ple, by preventing thorough public assessment of a new technology before it is implemented. They argue for changes in the patent law to reduce this risk.

Patent Law Harmonization: The Current Situation and Alternatives Available (Part I)

It is hoped that this rather comprehensive review, of patent law harmonization treaty work in process, will help organizations and individuals evaluate the current situation and prepare recommendations for their representatives, governmental and nongovernmental, who will participate in the final meeting, and in later stages of the treaty process. There is great value in reviewing several reports on this meeting. WIPO has published a report summarizing the 7th meeting of experts on patent law harmonization (more than 90 pages, organized on a day-by-day basis). The present article was drafted independently, from meeting documents and notes taken during attendance at the 7th meeting, without relying on the WIPO report as a primary source.Section I of this article includes a brief explanation of the WIPO treaty process. Section II gives an overview of how a patent system would function with the proposed changes. A chart, keyed to the draft treaty articles, is included to show the functional role of each provision. While this article assumes some knowledge of developments in prior meetings and basic international patent law, it is written for general patent specialists and business persons who want to know what is going on at the patent harmonization meetings. Section III (in Part II of this article, appearing in a subsequent issue) is a detailed review of the 7th meeting discussions, based on first-hand observations, organized by the draft treaty articles. The reader will find it convenient to refer to the Section II chart for a particular topic and article number, and to look up that article in Section III for more information.

GE, Utah agree to joint cold fusion effort

Although most scientists have written off electrochemically induced nuclear as an embarrassing mistake, General Electric Co., a major builder of nuclear reactors, has publicly agreed to join the University of Utah in a cooperative effort to study and develop the cold fusion phenomenon discovered at Utah. GE's role in the agreement involves helping Utah pursue patent protection for any technology that results from what the university calls its breakthrough in solid state fusion. James J. Brophy, vice president for research at Utah, says the agreement will give the university the important benefit of GE's recognized expertise in national and international patent law. Brophy says GE will benefit by positioning itself at the cutting edge of research in an exciting new area of energy development with the opportunity to license any promising technology. The agreement formalizes a previously confidential arrangement between GE and Utah. Nuclear physicist Martin Deutsch, professor emeritus a...

The Patent Documentation Group (PDG)

The PDG was founded in 1957 by thirteen European chemical and oil companies, with the main aim of abstracting patent documents and searching for patent families. During the 1960s the group became engaged in other activities, notably exchanging views on patent information management matters and testing new systems for polymer patents. In 1969 the Group was reorganised with a permanent secretary in Basel, and objectives and activities fixed by statutes. In the early 1970s, due to the development of Derwent's abstract services, the PDG discontinued its abstracting work, and efforts were concentrated on Working Groups studying matters such as networks and online retrieval, microfilm equipment, and developments in national and international patent laws. In 1984 the statutes were changed to allow ‘non-chemical’ companies to become members, and in 1985 membership increased to 23 companies covering five countries.

Patent information services in India with special reference to drugs and pharmaceuticals

Patent information is useful to a wide spectrum of users. Chemical patent information is particularly useful to those concerned with innovations in this area, as the chemical patent literature is almost of the same size as the chemical journal literature. National and International patent laws and treaties greatly influence the size of patent literature, its dissemination and exploitation for economic development. Paris Convention, WIPO and PCT programmes have all played an important role in the field of patent information. In India, patent information has a very significant role to play because the country's present law offers wide-ranging opportunities from adaptive development on a foreign patent to its commercialization. Patent information services in India are provided by several organisations which include the Patent Office Headquarters at Calcutta and its branches at New Delhi, Bombay and Madras; Patent Information System, Nagpur; National Informatics Centre, New Delhi; Patent Unit, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi; Technical Information Cell, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Hyderabad; National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and National Information Centre for Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Lucknow. Many of these organisations cover all areas of technology whereas others are restricted to particular disciplines. National Information Centre for Drugs and Pharmaceuticals is one such specialised centre restricted to only drugs and pharmaceutical. Its services such as patent bulletin and patent searches on selected drugs have been well accepted by the users. The Centre's holdings of foreign patent literature are meagre and need to be strengthened by acquiring them mainly from the U.S.A., France, F.R.G., Japan, Italy and Switzerland which are the top six nations responsible for introducing new drug substances. With a computer now installed at the Centre, the Centre should acquire INPADOC database and collaborate with existing Patent Information System, Nagpur and National Informatics Centre, New Delhi for better services. A survey of the patent information services in the countries of Asia and the Pacific carried out by the International Bureau of WIPO has put India in the first category because here information services are rendered by both the Industrial property organisation and other outside agencies.

Demaret, Paul; Patents, Territorial Restrictions, and EEC Law (Patente, territoriale Beschränkungen und EWG‐Gesetz). IIC Studies in Industrial Property and Copyright Law, Vol. 2, published by the Max‐Planck‐Institut for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law, Munich. Verlag Chemie, Weinheimw York 1978, 133 pages, soft cover DM 45,‐

Starch - StärkeVolume 31, Issue 5 p. 175-175 Book Review Demaret, Paul; Patents, Territorial Restrictions, and EEC Law (Patente, territoriale Beschränkungen und EWG-Gesetz). IIC Studies in Industrial Property and Copyright Law, Vol. 2, published by the Max-Planck-Institut for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law, Munich. Verlag Chemie, Weinheimw York 1978, 133 pages, soft cover DM 45,- First published: 1979 https://doi.org/10.1002/star.19790310518AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume31, Issue51979Pages 175-175 RelatedInformation

International Review of Industrial Property and Copyright Law (ICC). Vol. I, No. 1. Edited by H. C. Eugen Ulmer. and Friedrich-Karl Beier for the Max Planck Institute of Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law, Munich. [Weinheim/Bergstrasse: Veriag Chemie. 1970. 161, 33 and 42 (documentation survey) pp. DM. 120 p.a.

International Review of Industrial Property and Copyright Law (ICC). Vol. I, No. 1. Edited by H. C. Eugen Ulmer. and Friedrich-Karl Beier for the Max Planck Institute of Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law, Munich. [Weinheim/Bergstrasse: Veriag Chemie. 1970. 161, 33 and 42 (documentation survey) pp. DM. 120 p.a.] - Volume 20 Issue 2