INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW ASSIGNMENT

SUBJECT: IMPORTANCE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW IN BIOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR

SUBMITTED BY:
NAME: RIYA RAO
ROLL NO.: 2034
PRN NO.: 13020621194
CLASS: SY-A
BATCH: 2013-16
What is biotechnology?

Biotechnology is the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use" (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Art.
For thousands of years, humankind has used biotechnology in agriculture, food production, and medicine.
The wide concept of "biotech" or "biotechnology" encompasses a wide range of procedures for modifying living organisms according to human purposes, going back to domestication of animals, cultivation of plants, and "improvements" to these through breeding programs that employ artificial selection and hybridization. Modern usage also includes genetic engineering as well as cell and tissue culture technologies. The American Chemical Society defines biotechnology as the application of biological organisms, systems, or processes by various industries to learning about the science of life and the improvement of the value of materials and organisms such as pharmaceuticals, crops, and livestock.[3] As per European Federation of Biotechnology, Biotechnology is the integration of natural science and organisms, cells, parts thereof, and molecular analogues for products and services. [4] Biotechnology also writes on the pure biological sciences (animal cell culture, biochemistry, cell biology, embryology, genetics, microbiology, and molecular biology). In many instances, it is also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology including: • bioinformatics, a new brand of computer science • bioprocess engineering • biorobotics • chemical engineering

What is intellectual property?

Intellectual Property is the term used to describe the branch of law which protects the application of thoughts, ideas and information which are of commercial value. It thus covers the law relating to patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and other similar rights (Cornish, 1989).

Intellectual Property and Biotechnology
The development of the genetic resources of biodiversity is known as biotechnology. Broadly defined, biotechnology includes any technique that uses living organisms or parts of organisms to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses (Congress of the United States, Office of Technology Assessment, 1990). Mankind has used forms of biotechnology since the dawn of civilization. However, it has been the recent development of new biological techniques (e.g., recombinant DNA, cell fusion, and monoclonal antibody technology) which has raised fundamental social and moral questions and created problems in intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property protection for biotechnology is currently in a state of flux. Whilst it used to be the case that living organisms were largely excluded from protection, attitudes are now changing and increasingly biotechnology is receiving some form of protection. These changes have largely taken place in the USA and other industrialized countries, but as other countries wish to compete in the new biotechnological markets, they are likely to change their national laws in order to protect and encourage investment in biotechnology.

Biotechnology is usually subdivided into three sectors that may overlap, namely:
 Healthcare biotechnology or red biotechnology which plays an important role in drug discovery (insulin, erythropoietin, etc.) and today is improving outcomes for patients and addressing unmet medical needs for the future;
 Agriculture biotechnology or green biotechnology that is used to enhance plants in