I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in the following amendment:
Section 42: in subsection (1), line 26, ", having regard to the desirability of encouraging inventors and the growth and development of industry and to such other matters as he considers relevant," inserted before "there".
I mentioned in the House on Thursday last that an amendment had been moved in the Seanad to section 42 of the Bill which I proposed to accept. The amendment is mine. The purpose of the Bill, as the House is aware, is to give protection to inventors to exploit commercially their inventions. Under existing legislation there are certain limitations on that exploitation so that inventors may not, through the monopoly they acquire in inventions, exploit such inventions contrary to the public interest. Normally speaking, in order to establish exploitation, a person who seeks to use an invention must establish an abuse of the monopoly given to the inventor or patentee. That, however, is not the case in relation to inventions covering drugs, medicines, curative devices, etc, and a person may apply to the Controller of Patents for a licence to use an invention connected with drugs, medicines, etc.
In the Bill, as it left the House, the only obligation on the Controller was to ensure that adequate compensation would be made available to the inventor for the giving of the licence to an applicant for the licence. Having regard to the representations received from a number of sources, including the drug manufacturers of this country and the Industrial Development Authority, I introduced this amendment in the Seanad, where it was accepted. The purpose of the amendment is to make it obligatory on the Controller not only to ensure that adequate compensation be given but also to have regard to the legitimate interests of the inventor for the amount of money involved in research and, at the instance of some of these firms and the Industrial Development Authority, to have regard also to the prospect of the development of industry in this country. The purpose of the amendment is to oblige the Controller to have regard to these two facts and I recommend the amendment to the House.