Research reveals biotech patent system breakdown | North Korea Times

Research reveals biotech patent system breakdown

North Korea Times (ANI) Wednesday 10th September, 2008

Washington, Sept 10 : After conducting case studies in India, Brazil, Canada, Kenya the United States, the European Union, Japan and Australia, experts have said that the world's biotechnology patent system is broken.

The study by an international coalition of experts has claimed that the crisis in biotechnology has led not only to economic problems but to endemic mistrust among its various actors that is stopping lifesaving technologies from reaching the people who need them most in developed and developing countries.

"We found the same stumbling blocks in the traditional communities of Brazil as we did in the boardroom of a corporation that holds the patent to a gene that can determine the chance a woman will develop breast cancer. Most striking is that no matter where we looked, the lack of trust played a vital role in blocking negotiations that could have benefited both sides, as well as the larger public," said Richard Gold, professor of intellectual property at McGill University and chair of the International Expert Group that produced the report.

In the report, namely 'Toward a New Era of Intellectual Property: From Confrontation to Negotiation', the authors have made a number of concrete recommendations pointing to governments, the private sector and universities as crucial players.

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