Biopiracy: Is There a Need for a More Extensive Definition of 'Novelty' Within the Context of US Patent Laws?
| Autor | Zulmarie Urrutia-Vélez |
| Cargo | Certified Public Accountant |
| Páginas | 323-329 |
BIOPIRACY:
IS THERE A NEED FOR A MORE EXTENSIVE DEFINITION OF
“NOV E LT Y ” WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF US PATE NT LAW S?
NOTE
ZULMARIE URRUTIA-VÉLEZ*
I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 323
II. Patents Framework and Laws .................................................................................. 324
A. Novelty .......................................................................................................................... 325
1. Novelty and Patents in Foreign Countries ................................................... 325
III. Bioprospecting versus Biopiracy ........................................................................... 326
A. Traditional Knowledge (T.K.) ............................................................................... 327
1. 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (“C.B.D.”)................................. 327
2. The case of INBio - Costa Rica .......................................................................... 328
IV. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 329
I. INTRODUCTION
A patent is the grant of a property right to the inventor of an
invention, which is issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(“the US PTO”).1 The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of
the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making,
using, offering for sale, or selling the invention in the United States or
importing the invention into the United States.”2 What is granted is not the
right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others
from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention.
Consequently, U.S. patent legislation legally grants a monopoly to
inventors. Nonetheless, the term “invention” leaves space for lawfully taking
and patenting knowledge from undeveloped countries outside of the United
States. This shortfall is mainly due to the meaning of “novelty” under United
States (“U.S.”) patent legislation.
Bioprospecting is generally defined as the search for useful organic
compounds in nature, commonly involving the collection and examination of
biological samples (such as plants, animals, microorganisms, etc.) for sources
* Certified Public Accountant; J.D. University o f Puerto Rico Law School, 2004; Co-founder
and Partner of Cruz-Urrutia accounting fir m; Certificate from the Instituto de Empresas in
Madrid, Spain and L.L.M. from Northwestern University of Law.
1 See http://www.uspto.gov/patents/index.jsp.
2 Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. § 154(a)(1) (2011).
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