1QUESTIONOF:Genetic Patents 2MAIN SUBMITTER:United Kingdom 3CO-SUBMITTERS:Russia, United States of America 4CO-SPONSORS:Argentina, Australia Brazil, China, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, 5Singapore 6 1THEECONOMICAND FINANCIALCOMMITTEE, 2 3Acknowledging the crucial role genetic materials and technologies play in the medical, 4healthcare and agricultural industries, among others, 5 6Acknowledging legal intellectual property rights granted to patent holders 7 8Acknowledging the rights of creators as well as rights of the public with regards to intellectual 9property and its uses 10 11Recalling the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 which provides a unified procedure for 12filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of its contracting states, 13 14Noting with concern the current lack of a standardised international system given the global 15nature of this scientific technology, 16 17Recognising that this issue affects the welfare of all people and societies in all nations, 18 19Bearing in mind the economic and financial repercussions of the issue of genetic patents, 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
1. Encouragesall member nations to sign and ratify the 2001 Patent Law Treaty in order to: a. provide a forum for relevant discussion on the issue, b. work towards harmonising formal procedures worldwide, such as the filing of patent applications; 2. Recommends the creation of the International Cooperative Patent System (ICPS), regulated by the United Nations, which would: a. standardise and globalise patenting systems and patent law in order for potential patent holders to secure international rights in one application through one authority, b. replace the current Patent Cooperation Treaty and its associated union with a unified system behaving essentially the same as each nation’s domestic patent system, albeit on a global scale, such that current patents will be reevaluated and new patents will have to go through the aforementioned system, c. operate in cooperation with current domestic patent systems set up, with: i. physical patents being processedinitially through the domestic patent office before being forwarded by said office to the ICPS,where patents are processedand granted at a final stage ii. patents of any genetic nature being processeddirectly through the ICPSoffice due to the international nature of the scientific field and its discoveries; 3. Recommends that the general guidelines for the ICPSof patent processing, while recognising that specifics can be discussed later, include the following: a. the patent must fulfill traditional criteria such as but not limited to:
7QUESTIONOF:Genetic Patents 8MAIN SUBMITTER:United Kingdom 9CO-SUBMITTERS:Russia, United States of America 10CO-SPONSORS:Argentina, Australia Brazil, China, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, 11Singapore 12 48 i. novelty, 49 ii. inventiveness, 50 iii. utility, 51 b. the patent must be assessedby the searching and examination authorities of 52 the current Patent Cooperation Treaty, which would be incorporated into 53 the new ICPS; 54 55 4. Proposesglobal regulations be adopted and mandated by the ICPSthat differentiate 56 between the usageof patented material for non-profit research and commercial 57 purposes, including: 58 a. usage rights for research being made available in public domain for others 59 after 5 years, beginning from the issuing date of the original patent 60 b. special rights for patent holder country whereby rights of research is 61 allowed by the nation's government regardless of the 5 year period, as long 62 as it is non-profit and urges scientific development 63 c. usage rights for commercial purposes, defined as intended for profit, being 64 made available in public domain for others after fifteen years, beginning 65 from the aforementioned registration date of the original patent, 66 d. sale and purchase of the intellectual property right itself of the patent being 67 possible at any time, at the discretion of the original patent holder, 68 e. a sequence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) isolated from the genome not 69 being patentable; 70 71 5. Urges current holders of valid patents to submit their patent(s) to the ICPSfor re72 processing and re-assessment in order to ensure: 73 a. continuity between the old and new systems of approving patents, 74 b. a platform for current patents to be rendered valid on the global stage; 75 c. patents to be accessedglobally rather than regionally, 76 d. further collaboration in international research which coincides with the 77 open domain for non-profit research after 5 years, 78 e. global and unified standards for patents; 79 80 6. Suggests that the application for exemptions to the aforementioned regulations on 81 buying patent usagerights, ie before the five and fifteen years are up, be allowed, in 82 caseof dire financial need or other situations, to be arbitrated by a committee 83 under the ICPS,provided that: 84 a. said committee is formed of people including UN arbitrators, scientists, 85 economists, 86 b. humanitarian officials, among others, where relevant, and the original 87 patent holder who would be invited in by the committee when the case 88 addressestheir patent, 89 c. the decision for whether an exemption can be made takes into account loose 90 criteria such as but not limited to: 91 i. the GrossDomestic Product of a nation, 92 ii. the GrossDomestic Product per capita of a nation, 93 iii. the Human Development Index ranking of a nation, 94 iv. the economic situation of a nation,
13QUESTIONOF:Genetic Patents 14MAIN SUBMITTER:United Kingdom 15CO-SUBMITTERS:Russia, United States of America 16CO-SPONSORS:Argentina, Australia Brazil, China, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, 17Singapore 18 95 v. the critical state of a nation’s agricultural, medical or other needs, 96 vi. any humanitarian crises that has arisen out of these unfulfilled needs 97 that would be aided with the use of a certain patented technology 98 whose usagerights are not yet officially open for public purchase; 99 100 7. Encouragesthe regulation of patent applications by ICPSin caseswhere: 101 a. a patent is registered by a group of scientists from many different nations 102 working together, in which casethe five year window of exclusive usage 103 rights will be applied to all involved nations, 104 b. a patent is registered by a scientist or scientists being directly sponsored by 105 a corporation, in which casethe five year window of exclusive usagerights 106 will be applied to the corporation, who will have the right at any time to use 107 the patent as it seesfit; 108 109 8. Invites the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL)to investigate on 110 behalf of the ICPSany violations of intellectual property rights of genetic patents: 111 b. in order to provide a way for the enforcement of international patent laws, 112 c. with any violators to be tried in the justice systems of the nation whereby 113 the law violated; 114 115 9. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.