ABSTRACT
Some of the issues have been debated at the Conference on Biotechnology, Patents and Morality: Towards a Consensus. The morality issues that have been raised in oppositions to patents in Europe are important in the appropriate context and powerful if they are used to introduce legislation to protect animals and the environment. Part of the frustration expressed by the biotechnology industry in 1994 was that the Patent and Trademark Office was in effect threatening the survival of the industry which depended in significant part on patents to raise investment capital. The reliance of the biotechnology industry on patents results from the need for some competitive benefit to offset the enormous cost of developing products and the extended product development time. Despite the increasing number of hurdles to patentability, the biotechnology industry has successfully obtained many thousands of US patents for genetically engineered products since 1980.
