ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the variability stems not merely from differences in law, but also in political culture, ideology, and history. It uses a historical and comparative approach to unravel the political configurations that underlie patent systems. The chapter discusses patent laws across Europe contain ordre public provisions that allow governments to prohibit patents on inventions deemed contrary to public policy or morality. The Directive on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions did allow human gene patents, a move that many would soon oppose. As in the United States, in Europe Myriad Genetics catalyzed debate over human gene patents when it submitted European Patent Office patent applications covering the BRCA genes in the mid-1990s. The chapter explores to unravel how political culture, ideology, and history shape patent system logics, institutions, rules, stakeholders, relationships, and practices. It helps us see how national and regional politics can shape our understanding of the moral and social implications of genomics.
