Biotechnology: Pessimism about patent rights

Skolem and pessimism about proof in

Overcoming pessimism about treatment of addiction.

ALTHOUGH 13 MILLION TO 16 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE UNITED States each year could benefit from treatment for addiction disorders, less than 25% of them receive it. Negative attitudes of physicians toward diagnosis and treatment of addiction create barriers to their early identification and treatment. In one survey of general practice physicians and nurses, a majority believed that no available medi...

International Patent Harmonization and Trade Balance of Patent Rights

The economic implications of international patent harmonization have attracted little empirical scrutiny. Based on patent application and renewal data in major European countries since the early 1980s, this paper examines the empirical relationship between international patenting, R&D, and “trade flows” of patent rights across national borders. The analysis reveals a substantial patent “trade i...

Property Rights Protection of Biotechnology Innovations

Protection of intellectual property embedded in potentially reproducible living organisms presents some unique and difficult challenges. Biological innovations like genetically modified (GM) seed are self-replicating, and as a result, represent a form of durable good with a potential product life extending far into the future. This gives rise to two problems: the need for copy protection of int...

Human rights in the biotechnology era 1

BACKGOUND: The concept of Human Rights has become the modern civilising standard to which all should aspire and indeed attain. DISCUSSION: In an era characterised by widening disparities in health and human rights across the world and spectacular advances in biotechnology it is necessary to reflect on the extent to which human rights considerations are selectively applied for the benefit of the...