Book Review: Octrooirecht, Ethiek en Biotechnologie/Patent Law, Ethics and Biotechnology/Droit des Brevets, Éthique et Biotechnologie
| Author | Aart Hendriks |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X9900600106 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Boo k Re vie ws
Ge ert rui V an O ve rw all e ( e d. ), O ctro oir ech t, E thi ek e n B iote ch nol o-
gi e/P a ten t La w, Et hic s a nd B iote ch nol ogy /D r oit d es B rev ets , Ét hiq ue e t
Biotechnolog ie, B ruy lan t 1 99 8, 1 83 p ag es , p ape rba ck, B EF 16 80 .
It is often asserted that patent law is a precon dition for scientific and technological
progress. Patent law, a form of intellectual property law, seeks to protect technical
innovations by bestowing exclusive property rights to the inventor. Withou t such
property righ ts, inventors would not be able to preclude others from copying, using and
marketing ‘the ir’ inventio ns without having to incur the same researc h an d development
costs.
Around the world, th e patenting o f biotechnological inventions is highly disputed,
particularly now that many of these inventions relate to h uman beings , plants and
animals. For the (Belgian) Centre for Intellectual Property Rights, t hese controversies
provided a good re ason for convening a conference to explore the legal and ethical
aspects of granting patents to biotechnological inventions. This book contains the papers
presented at this meeting which took place on 29 April 1997.
The book is subdivided into thre e different parts. Part I consists of a single chapter
which seeks to familiarize the reader with the main features of bio technology. Peter
Marynen (Catholic Univ ersity of Louvain) clearly articulates the meaning of the key
concepts and principles, followed by an analysis of the potentials and limitations o f this
branch o f science.
Part II addresses the legal aspects of patent law, ethics and biotech nology. It opens with
a chap ter by Geertrui Van Overwalle (Catholic University of Louvain). According to
international, European a nd national (Belgian) paten t law, patents will not be granted
if the biotechnological intervention does not comply with technical requirements o r in
case o f overriding ethical conside rations. Van Overwalle notes, with conc ern, that th e
technical exclusions lack consistency, whereas i t remains unclear how - and b y
whom - the ethical criteria for non-patentability are being applied. The nex t chap ter, by
6 MJ 1 (1999) 97
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