Seeds of Change: The Implications of Biotechnology Patents‪.‬

EECONOMIC GROWTH IS STRONGLY influenced by new inventions, and invention is encouraged by patent laws. The ablishment of intellectual property rights is therefore a crucial issue throughout much of the world. In the case of new, technologically advanced industries, innovation, and therefore patents, play a large role in the success or failure of companies. The new field of biotechnology is an excellent example of the increasing importance of patents, as genetic engineering firms are almost totally dependent on strict intellectual property protection in order to make a profit. Even as cutting-edge industries come to depend more on patents, the old patent system is beginning to break down. Most patent laws are based on precedents set hundreds of years ago and are inadequate in the modern era. In biotechnology especially, there are serious concerns about the viability and fairness of patent protection. On the international level, there are three main problems confronting current intellectual property protection schemes. Conflicts over rights to genetic material, concerns over the effect biotechnology patents will have on the developing world, and disagreement over patent standards are all issues that must be addressed to solve the pressing problems of the patent system. Solutions to these problems have been proposed by economists, but in order to understand them, it is necessary to examine the failures of the current patent system.