Patents on Life: Religious, Moral, and Social Justice Aspects of Biotechnology and Intellectual Property

327 Pages·2019·3.075 MB·English

by  Thomas C. Berg (editor), Roman Cholij (editor), Simon Ravenscroft (editor)

patents on life
Thisvolumebringsauniquecollectionoflegal,religious,ethical,andpoliticalperspec-
tivestobearondebatesconcerningbiotechnologypatents,or‘patentsonlife’.Theever-
increasingimportanceofbiotechnologieshasgeneratedcontinualquestionsabouthow
intellectualpropertylawshouldtreatsuchtechnologies,especiallythoseraisingethical
or social-justice concerns. Even after many years and court decisions, important con-
tested issuesremain concerningownership ofand rewards from biotechnology –from
human genetic materialtogenetically engineered plants – and regarding the scope of
moralorsocial-justicelimitationsonpatentsorlicensingpractices.Thisbookexploresa
range of related issues, including questions concerning morality and patentability,
biotechnology and human dignity, and what constitutes fair rewards from genetic
resources.Itfeatureshigh-levelinternational,interfaith,andcross-disciplinarycontribu-
tions from experts in law, religion, and ethics, including academics and practitioners,
placingreligiousandsecularperspectivesintodialoguetoexaminethefullimplications
ofpatentinglife.
ThomasC.BergisJamesL.OberstarProfessorofLawandPublicPolicyattheUniversity
ofSt.ThomasSchoolofLaw.HeisaleadingscholarofChurch–Staterelationsanda
leaderinexploringtheintersectionofintellectualproperty,religion,andsocialethics.
Roman Cholij is Research Associate at the Von Hu¨gel Institute for Critical Catholic
Inquiry,StEdmund’sCollege,UniversityofCambridgeandaCharteredTradeMark
Attorney. He has written two books, several book chapters, and numerous articles on
variousaspectsoflawandoftheology.
SimonRavenscroftistheArtsOutreachFellowatMagdaleneCollege,andaResearch
Associate of the Von Hu¨gel Institute for Critical Catholic Inquiry at St Edmund’s
College, University of Cambridge. He has published on a range of topics across the
fieldsoftheology,philosophy,andsocialtheory.
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Patents on Life
religious, moral, and social justice aspects of
biotechnology and intellectual property
Editedby
THOMAS C. BERG
UniversityofSt.Thomas(Minnesota)SchoolofLaw
ROMAN CHOLIJ
St.Edmund’sCollege,UniversityofCambridge
SIMON RAVENSCROFT
MagdaleneCollege,UniversityofCambridge
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108428682
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Contents
ListofContributors pageviii
PrefatoryNoteandAcknowledgements xi
opening 1
1 AnIntroductiontoReligiousandPoliticalDiscourse
onLifePatents 3
RomanCholij
i life patents, law, and morality 23
2 Morality,Religion,andPatents 25
KathleenLiddellandSimonRavenscroft
3 ReligiousandMoralGroundsforPatent-EligibleSubject
MatterExclusions 38
JoshuaD.Sarnoff
4 Life-FormPatents:ProceedingsintheEuropeanPatent
OfficeandtheRoleofNon-commercialParties 59
ChristopherRennie-Smith
ii religious perspectives on life patents 83
5 IntellectualPropertyRightsandtheFundamentalRighttothe
CommonsintheLightofCatholicSocialTeaching 85
MonsignorOsvaldoNevesdeAlmeida
v
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vi Contents
6 HumanRightsandLifePatents:LessonsfromtheChurch’s
SocialTeachingandEngagementintheUnitedStates 100
StephenM.Colecchi
7 IntellectualPropertyandGeneticSequences:AJewish
LawPerspective 113
MichaelJ.BroydeandStevenS.Weiner
8 IntellectualProperty,IslamicValues,andthe
PatentingofGenes 133
MohammedElSaid
9 ChristianLibertarianismandtheCuriousLackofReligious
ObjectionstothePatentingofLifeFormsintheUnitedStates 152
PaulJ.Heald
10 FromChakrabartytoMyriadandBeyond:Catholic
ContributionstotheGenePatentingDebate 165
PaulJ.Wojda
iii social justice and political aspects 185
11 “ThouShaltNotSteal”:TheMoralityofCompulsory
LicensingofPharmaceuticalPatents 187
MargoA.Bagley
12 GeneticResourcesandPatents:InSearchofEthical
SolutionstoGlobalIPDiscord 209
RomanCholij
13 PatentsforLife:TowardanEthicalUseofPatentson
PlantInnovations 227
MichaelA.Kock
14 GermlineModificationofHumanEmbryos,Patents
andtheLimitsofMarkets:RethinkingEquality,Human
DiversityandtheQuestionofInnovationFunding 240
KaterinaSideri
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Contents vii
15 PatentGovernance,EthicsandDemocracy:How
TransparencyandAccountabilityNormsAreChallenged
byPatentsonStemCells,GametesandGenomeEditing
(CRISPR)inEurope 263
IngridSchneider
closing 289
16 LifePatents,Religion,andJustice:ASummaryofThemes 291
ThomasC.Berg
Index 307
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Contributors
MargoA.BagleyisAsaGriggsCandlerProfessorofLaw,EmoryUniversitySchool
ofLaw,andHardyCrossDillardProfessorofLaw,UniversityofVirginiaSchool
of Law. Among her recent publications is the chapter ‘Towering Wave or
Tempest in a Teapot? Synthetic Biology, Access & Benefit Sharing, and
EconomicDevelopment’,inSusyFrankelandDanielGervais,eds.,Intellectual
Property on the Internet and the Connection with Human and Economic
Development(VictoriaUniversityPress,2017).
ThomasC.BergisJamesOberstarProfessorofLawandPublicPolicy,Universityof
St.ThomasSchoolofLaw(Minnesota).Heistheauthorof,amongotherworks,
‘Intellectual Property and the Preferential Option for the Poor’, Journal of
CatholicSocialThought5(Winter2008):193–233.
MichaelJ.BroydeisProfessorofLawatEmoryUniversityandProjectsDirectorof
itsCenterfortheStudyofLawandReligion.HeandStevenWeinerhavebeen
studyingandwritingonmattersofJewishlawtogetherforfortyyears;theirmost
recent article together was ‘Understanding Rights in Context: Freedom of
Contract or Freedom from Contract?’, Journal of the Beth Din of America 1
(Spring2012):48–65.
Roman Cholij is a Research Associate of the Von Hu¨gel Institute for Critical
Catholic Inquiry at St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, and
acharteredtrademarkattorney.Amonghispublicationsinthefieldsoftheology
andlawis‘IPinChristianLaw’,IntellectualPropertyQuarterly3(2012):137–148.
StephenM.Colecchi,D.Min.,servedastheDirectoroftheOfficeofInternational
JusticeandPeaceoftheUnitedStatesConferenceofCatholicBishopsfrom2004
to2018.Amonghisvariouspublications,heisauthorofthebookIntheFootsteps
of Jesus: Resource Manual on Catholic Social Teaching (United States
ConferenceofCatholicBishops,2005).
Paul J. Heald is the Richard W. and Marie L. Corman Research Professor at the
University of Illinois. His other publications on patenting life forms include
‘Veggie Tales: Pernicious Myths about Patents, Innovation, and Crop Diversity
viii
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ListofContributors ix
intheTwentiethCentury’,IllinoisLawReview(2012):1051–1102(withSusannah
Chapman).
Michael A. Kock is founder of dr. kock consulting, an IP and strategy consulting
service, and was from 2007 to 2017 Head of Intellectual Property for Syngenta
Crop Protection AG. His recent publications on plant IP issues include (with
Floris Ten Have), ‘The “International Licensing Platform – Vegetables”:
APrototypeofaPatentClearingHouseintheLifeScienceIndustry’,Journalof
IntellectualPropertyLawandPractice(2016).
KathleenLiddellistheHerschelSmithLecturerofIntellectualPropertyLawand
DirectoroftheCentreforLaw,MedicineandLifeSciencesattheUniversityof
Cambridge.SheistheauthorofTheLimitsofConsent(OxfordUniversityPress,
2009).
MonsignorOsvaldoNevesdeAlmeida,anexpertininternationalpubliclaw,was
anofficialoftheSecretariatofStateoftheHolySee,withwide-rangingrespon-
sibilities from 1992 until his retirement in 2017. He is currently based in Rio de
Janeiro,Brazil,wherehecontinuestobeanadvisortotheSecretariatofState.He
isapriestofthePrelatureofOpusDei.
Simon Ravenscroft is the Arts Outreach Fellow at Magdalene College and
aResearchAssociateoftheVonHu¨gelInstituteforCriticalCatholicInquiryat
St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge. His publications include
‘Charite´, amour et don dans l’oeuvre d’Ivan Illich’, in Ivan Illich, l’alchimiste
des possibles, Martin Fortier and Thierry Paquot, eds. (Lemieux Editeur, 2016):
165–211.
ChristopherRennie-SmithisaEuropeanpatentconsultant,andformerchairman
of a Board of Appeal and member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal at the
EuropeanPatentOffice.
Mohammed El Said, PhD, is Professor in International Trade and Intellectual
Property Law, Lancashire Law School, University of Central Lancashire. His
recentpublicationsinclude‘TRIPS-Plus,PublicHealthandPerformance-Based
RewardsSchemesOptionsandSupplementsforPolicyFormationinDeveloping
andLeastDevelopedCountries’,AmericanUniversityInternationalLawReview
31(2016):373–444.
Joshua D. Sarnoff is a professor of law at DePaul University College of Law and
afacultymember inand formerdirectoroftheCenterforIntellectual Property
Law and Information Technology (CIPLIT). He is the author of, among other
works,‘PatentEligibleInventionsafterBilski:HistoryandTheory’,HastingsLaw
Journal63(December2011):53–125.
Ingrid Schneider is Professor of Political Science in the Centre for Ethics in
Information Technologies at the Department ofInformatics, and in the Centre
for Bio-Governance, at the Universita¨t Hamburg, Germany. Her most recent
publication is The Politics of Big Data: Big Data – Big Brother?, edited with
AnnRudinowSaetnanandNicolaGreen(Routledge,2018).
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