Biotechnology Intellectual Property – Bioethical Issues

Jack Wilson, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, USA

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003474

Biotechnology intellectual property consists of patents and trade secrets held on organisms, genes and products derived from them. Intellectual property law has been applied to biotechnological innovations and there are ethical concerns raised by its protection of biotechnological inventions.

Keywords: patent; intellectual property; ethics; biotechnology

 Further Reading
    book Crespi RS (1988) Patents: A Basic Guide to Patenting in Biotechnology. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
    book Magnus D (ed.) (2001) Who Owns Life? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
    book Plant DW, Reimers NJ and Zinder ND (eds) (1982) Banbury Report 10: Patenting of Life Forms. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
    book Rifkin J (1998) The Biotech Century: Harnessing the Gene and Remaking the World. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.
    book Shiva V (1996) Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge. Boston, MA: South End Press.

Related Sub-Topics:

Bioethics
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Article Title: Biotechnology Intellectual Property – Bioethical Issues
 
How to Cite close
Wilson, Jack(Apr 2001) Biotechnology Intellectual Property – Bioethical Issues. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003474]