OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy on Patent Policy.
The Final Communique of the Meeting of the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy at Ministerial Level, 29-30 January 2004, gives some interesting statements on general patent policy. The Ministers concluded that "Patent regimes play an increasingly complex role in encouraging innovation, diffusing scientific and technical knowledge, and enhancing market entry and firm creation. As such, they should be subject to closer scrutiny by science, technology and innovation policy makers". Ministers invited the OECD to further develop its activities in the following areas, subject to the availability of resources, in particular but not limited to the field of Examining the role of IPR systems in fostering innovation, knowledge diffusion and competition: Investigating the ability of technology markets to disseminate patented inventions and identifying effective policy measures for promoting them, notably as regards SMEs; Examining national policies regarding exemptions for research use of patented inventions and assessing their effect on the conduct of scientific research; Reviewing the effect of various forms of intellectual property protection for software on access to software-related knowledge and follow-on innovation; Developing good licensing practices for biotechnology patents. A statement as excerpted below was concluded:
"[...] Adapting IPR regimes
10. Patenting has accelerated rapidly in the past decade, with the number of patent applications filed in Europe, Japan and the United States increasing by 40% between 1992 and 2002, from 600 000 to 850 000 per year. The effects of such patenting on incentives to innovate, on the diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge and on competition remain unclear and vary across industry sectors and technological fields. In this regard, Ministers welcomed the OECD report on "Patents and Innovation: Trends and Policy Challenges", and encouraged continuation of OECD work in this area.
11. Although not widespread, cases of restricted access to patented inventions and delays in conducting or publishing research, indicate that governments must remain vigilant in ensuring that patenting does not unnecessarily hinder access to knowledge, reduce incentives to disseminate knowledge, or impede follow-on innovation. Ministers recognised the growing importance of patent licences and other market-based transactions in fostering knowledge diffusion and agreed that policy should encourage their development. Ministers further shared the view that IPR regimes need to protect researchers' access to fundamental inventions, such as through exemptions for research use of patented inventions.
12. The more important patents become to economic growth and performance, the more necessary it will be to ensure the quality of patents awarded while minimising their overall costs to society. Ministers welcomed the steps that a number of countries have already taken in that direction, and agreed that good practices in this area should be emulated. In this context, they encouraged the development of efforts to forge closer co-operation among major patent offices towards a more coherent global patent system. [...]"
Although the Ministers obviously refrained from openly criticising the patent system in general, there seems to be some growing preparedness to re-scrutinise this field of IP law in view of its macro- and microeconomic implications.
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Dipl.-Phys. Axel H Horns is Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney),
European Patent Attorney as well as European Trade Mark Attorney. In particular, he is Member of:
Final Communique of the Meeting of the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy at Ministerial Level, 29-30 January 2004, gives some interesting statements on general patent policy. The Ministers concluded that "Patent regimes play an increasingly complex role in encouraging innovation, diffusing scientific and technical knowledge, and enhancing market entry and firm creation. As such, they should be subject to closer scrutiny by science, technology and innovation policy makers". Ministers invited the OECD to further develop its activities in the following areas, subject to the availability of resources, in particular but not limited to the field of Examining the role of IPR systems in fostering innovation, knowledge diffusion and competition: Investigating the ability of technology markets to disseminate patented inventions and identifying effective policy measures for promoting them, notably as regards SMEs; Examining national policies regarding exemptions for research use of patented inventions and assessing their effect on the conduct of scientific research; Reviewing the effect of various forms of intellectual property protection for software on access to software-related knowledge and follow-on innovation; Developing good licensing practices for biotechnology patents. A statement as excerpted below was concluded:
