ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes the creation of the Genetic Sequence Right (GSR) as a sui generis system of intellectual property. The impact which this hepatitis C virus (HCV) genetic product claim had over medical and scientific research in the 1990's was explained by Prof. Baruch Blumberg16 in his testimony to the Federal Court of Australia. The chapter explains the European Commission (EC) Biotechnology Directive was passed in 1998 by the European Parliament. The Directive became law principally at the behest of the European biotechnology industry. The chapter discusses the patent system has at its core an exclusionary right. A granted patent that does not satisfy these parameters violates Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) and, as a consequence, the patent law from which it derives its legal status also violates the World Trade Agreement. The substantive point is that even where patent owners license their patent rights on reasonable commercial terms.
