On Sep 24, 12:17 pm, Robin T Cox <nom...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> <quote>
> Life-saving scientific research is being stifled by a "broken" patent
> system, according to a new report.
> "Blocking patents" are delaying advances in cancer medicine and food crops,
> says the Canada-based Innovation Partnership, a non-profit consultancy.
> </quote>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7632318.stm
Actually, "Blocking patents" have been around for almost as long as
the patent system. The railroads used blocking patents to prevent the
introduction of "track-less" vehicles, or at least delay it a decade
or two.
Back in the 1970s, there was a guy who came up with the "200 mpg fuel
system". It was an interesting device, and it actually worked quite
well, turning gas guzzling 8 cylinder cars into economical engines
getting up to 200 miles per gallon by vaporizing the fuel in a screen
"wick" before it was pulled into the intake manifold. The result was
that the air to fuel ratio could be increased to as much as 40 to 1
compared to the 12 to 1 ratio normally required. The the guy filed
for, and was granted, a patent.
The patent was purchased by an agent for an oil company, where it was
killed in favor of the less efficient fuel injector, which reduced
fuel consumption moderately, but not so much as to collapse the oil
industry.
The irony is that the patent expired about 10 years ago, so it's now
public domain. I think the patent was 1978, which means it would have
expired in 1997 or 1998.
> <quote>
> OTTAWA – (9 September) The world’s intellectual property system is broken.
> It’s stopping lifesaving technologies from reaching the people who need
> them most in developed and developing countries, according to the authors
> of a report released in Ottawa today by an international coalition of
> experts.
>
> “We found the same stumbling blocks in the traditional communities of Brazil
> as we did in a corporate boardroom,” said Richard Gold, professor of
> intellectual property at McGill University and chair of the International
> Expert Group that produced the report. “Most striking is that no matter
> where we looked, the lack of trust played a vital role in blocking
> negotiations that could have benefited both sides, as well as the larger
> public.”
> </quote>http://www.theinnovationpartnership.org/en/archives/news/24/
> --
> Facts are sacred ... but comment is free
The big problem for Pharmaceutical companies is that USA FDA approval
costs around $30 million dollars to get it approved for distribution.
No company wants to fork over that kind of money and risk forfeiting a
patent, or find out, after the fact, that someone else in some other
country has the patent.
The one that's really weird is that US law will allow you to patent
ancient remedies, if you can prove, through clinical trials, that the
product actually produces the result being claimed. Several such
remedies have been patented, and have been licensed to other companies
- who had been offering it as a simple "herbal supplement" prior to
the patent.
Keep in mind that it's legal to offer the supplement as a supplement,
but you can't claim that it will cure or treat a disease without the
FDA trials.
IIRC, the Ginko Beloba and Genseng combination have been patented for
their ability to improve concentration and memory.
Of course anyone can market Ginko and Genseng as an herbal supplement,
and can say that it "may help with memory and concentration", but if
you want to say that it "Will improve memory and concentration" you
have to license the patent.
Weird, right?
Then again, I'm not sure this is exactly the case in point.
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