ABSTRACT

Patenting Lives includes contributions from various interests and perspectives, both in the context of current international developments in life patents and the global agenda of harmonization of international intellectual property. The book is divided into five sections reflecting the critical issues arising from patents and biotechnology - Context; Human Rights and Ethical Frameworks; Medicine and Public Health; Traditional Knowledge; and Agriculture. The international contributors from government, civil society, academia and the private sector provide diverse perspectives on life patents and the facilitation of social, cultural and economic development in the context of international principles of trade.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

Patent Publics, Patent Cultures

part 1|17 pages

Context

part 2|47 pages

Human Rights and Ethical Frameworks

chapter 2|26 pages

Life as Chemistry or Life as Biology?

An Ethic of Patents on Genetically Modified Organisms

part 3|45 pages

Medicine and Public Health

chapter 4|20 pages

The Genetic Sequence Right

A Sui Generis Alternative to the Patenting of Biological Materials

chapter 5|24 pages

Forfeited Consent

Body Parts in Eminent Domain

part 4|39 pages

Traditional Knowledge

chapter 6|18 pages

Beyond ‘Protection'

Promoting Traditional Knowledge Systems in Thailand

chapter 7|20 pages

Plant Genetic Resources and the Associated Traditional Knowledge

Does the Distinction between Higher and Lower Life Forms Matter?

part 5|35 pages

Agriculture

chapter 9|16 pages

Is More Less?

An Evolutionary Economics Critique of the Economics of Plant Breeds' Rights