Peter Barry
Ceist:73 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether the present GATT talks are addressing the question of the patenting of biotechnological inventions.
Written Answers. - Patenting Inventions.
As the Deputy will be aware the GATT negotiations are ongoing and agreement has not been reached in any of the 15 negotiating groups. It is, therefore, not possible to anticipate the final outcome in any of the subjects covered at this juncture.
The question of patentability of biotechnological inventions has been addressed in the negotiations. The current draft text on intellectual property, which will form the basis of any agreement, provides for the possible exclusion from patentability of plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes. Provision is nevertheless made for the protection of plant varieties.
This draft contains more restrictive criteria than the patentability criteria in the current legislation of European countries generally. The provisions in the new Patents Bill just signed by the President are modelled on the comparable provisions of the European Patent Convention and bring Ireland into line with the position in other European countries.