Abstract
Recent advances in biotechnology have brought dramatic transformations in the society. These transformations have been remarkable in the field of molecular biology and genetics, where biotechnology has opened new vistas for medicine and healthcare. The completion of the Human Genome Project has unravelled some mysteries of human life, reshaping our understanding of human genetics. With the increasing understanding of the genetic basis of human diseases through modern techniques such as diagnostic genetic testing, biotechnology has shown its potential to transform the basic framework of clinical medicine from one of ‘diagnosis and treatment’ to one of ‘prediction and prevention’. Modern techniques in biotechnology promise the new era of ‘personalized medicines’ with more accurate results as compared to traditional medicines. These scientific advances create commercial possibilities for industries. It started in 1970s with the introduction of new biological techniques such as recombinant DNA technology, genetic engineering and cell culture which led to the emergence of the biotechnology industry. The enormous potential of biotechnological advances to produce commercial results has led to the conjunction of biotechnology and intellectual property rights (IPR), where industries and intellectual property developers seek to grab new biotechnological inventions through intellectual property protection.
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Notes
- 1.
Zimmern (1999).
- 2.
World Health Organization (2005).
- 3.
Ibid.
- 4.
Duffy (2002).
- 5.
Ibid.
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Smith (2000).
- 9.
Silverstein et al. (2009).
- 10.
Dutfield (2006).
- 11.
Heller and Eisenberg (1998).
- 12.
Ibid.
- 13.
Bryn (2002).
- 14.
Paradise (2004).
- 15.
Allison (2009).
- 16.
Jones, supra note 13 at 138.
- 17.
Association for Molecular Pathology v. United States Patent and Trademark Office, Civil Action No. 09-4515 RWS (S.D.N.Y. 2009).
- 18.
Association of Molecular Pathology et al. v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. et al. 569 U.S. 12-1398 (Slip opinion) available at http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-398_1b7d.pdf (last visited on 14 January 2014).
- 19.
The National Centre for Biotechnology Information defines it as ‘field of study in which biology, information technology and computer science merge together to form a single discipline.’ available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/primer/bioinformatics.html (last visited on December 16, 2011).
- 20.
Gopalan (2009).
- 21.
Art. 1 of UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Human Genome and Human Rights 1997 proclaims that “[t]he human genome underlies the fundamental unity of all members of the human family, as well as the recognition of their inherent dignity and diversity. In a symbolic sense, it is the heritage of humanity.”
- 22.
World Health Organization (2002).
- 23.
Id, at 143.
- 24.
Statistical Definition of Biotechnology (updated in 2005).
- 25.
Ibid.
- 26.
Art. 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992.
- 27.
Art. 3(i) of the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety, 2000.
- 28.
Noorzad (2000).
- 29.
Chawala (2005).
- 30.
“Key Issues in Biotechnology”, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2002, available at www.unctad.org/en/docs/poitetebd10.en.pdf. (last visited on May 12, 2011).
- 31.
Bud (1991).
- 32.
Holyoak and Torremans (2005).
- 33.
Derek Bosworth & Elizabath Webster, The Management of Intellectual Property 25 (Edward Elgar Publishing Inc., Massachusetts, 2006).
- 34.
Holyoak and Torremans, supra note 32 at 27.
- 35.
Drahos (1999).
- 36.
Ibid.
- 37.
Ibid.
- 38.
Art. 2(vii) of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, 1967.
- 39.
Art. 1, para. 2 of TRIPS Agreement.
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Singh, K. (2015). Introduction. In: Biotechnology and Intellectual Property Rights. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2059-6_1
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