A clash of appeals over patentability

In Duns Licensing, the Technical Board of Appeal (TBA) of theEPO has delivered an opinion that expressly criticizes the decisionof the Court of Appeal for England and Wales in Macrossan/Aerotel[2007] RPC 7.     

体育动作可专利性法律问题研究

体育产业化要求利用知识产权保护体育运动参与者的经济利益。体育动作的不断革新要求对引入专利保护进行研究。通过分析专利制度法律规定和体育动作的特性发现,体育动作具有受到专利保护的可能性。但是,通过专利保护体育动作仍然需要克服许多困难,只有体育产业和法律制度能够良好的协调和互动,才能通过体育动作的专利保护促进体育运动的进步和体育产业的健康发展。     

Recent developments in the patentability of software in the UK

Over the past few months there has been renewed debate at the UK Intellectual Property Office (“UK IPO”) and in the UK courts over whether computer programs can be considered patentable inventions. In particular, concern persists that the UK authorities and the European Patent Office (“EPO”) are applying different tests for the patentability of computer software, even though they are applying the same legislation. This article reviews the positions taken by the UK and the EPO tribunals, and how these impact upon businesses wishing to patent inventions encompassed in software.     

从“发明”的技术性特征看电子商业方法的可专利性

发明的基本特征在于＂技术性＂,体现在两方面：发明应是具体的而不是抽象的,发明应利用自然规律直接作用于客观物质。由于不符合后一项认定标准,商业方法被排除在专利保护范围之外。但在电子商业方法的可专利性审查上,美国采用了一个宽泛的＂技术性＂概念,背离了上述认定标准,欧洲专利局以局部代替整体的审查方法也难以自圆其说。尽管电子商业方法所采用的计算机手段可以具有技术性,但其整体仍不是发明。     

Legal protection of biotechnological inventions. The European Parliament's perspective]

In 1996, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a Parliament and Concil Directive on the legal protection of biotechnology inventions. The article looks at vicissitudes which characterised the progress of the proposal in the Council and the European Parliament. The future directive will regulate the patentability of biological material, which is a particularly sensitive issue when the material is of human origin. The article also seeks to set the proposed directive in a wider context by referring to forthcoming international Convention Law on biotechnology and to the legal situation in Spain at present.     

Regulations and organ transplantation in Turkey.

The concrete expression of ethical values in legal arrangements may require a long period. In our experience, this period can sometimes be quite brief when it comes to bioethical issues, as it can be seen in the legal arrangement in Turkey concerning organ transplantations. Turkey can be considered a fortunate country with respect to legal arrangements for organ transplantation in that laws on organ transplantation in Turkey date back to twenty years ago. At the time this law went into effect, the ethical discussion on this issue were yet to begin. The rationale behind the law was to prevent physicians from legal prosecution due to organ transplantation. Yet, the attempt to place organ transplantation into a certain legal framework alleviates our ethical concerns.     

围绕“人格”问题的法理论辩

"人格"问题在法学与法律上都是个众说纷纭的概念,由此也引起学界对其意义、范围以及与其它概念相区别的争论。诸如"人格的概念在法律上是否必需?","人格概念是否仅存在于私法制度之中?","人格"的概念是否与"法律主体"、"权利能力"的内涵相同?……等等,都常常引起人们的关注。作为法学、法律上的一个基础概念,人格有其存在的特殊意义,它既在私法上成为法律主体建构的基石,也在公法上为人的平等提供了依据。同时,人格既不等同于法律主体,也不类似于权利能力,而是法学、法律上具有独特内涵的专门范畴。     

The patentability of human beings: the effect of a proposed exclusion in the Patents Act 1953

The author critically examines the debate over whether "human beings" ought to be patentable. The article outlines the choices between excluding just the patenting of whole organisms or parts of organisms. After considering New Zealand, Canadian, and European Union Patent law, the author concludes that at very least New Zealand must statutorily prevent the patenting of whole organisms.     

Gustav Radbruch vs. Hans Kelsen: A Debate on Nazi Law*

Abstract. Can the label “law” apply to rules as amoral as the enactments of the Nazis? This question confronted the courts in Germany after 1945. In dealing with it, the judges had to take sides in the philosophical debate over the concept of law. In this context, the prominent voices of the legal philosophers Gustav Radbruch and Hans Kelsen could not go unheard. This paper draws on what could have been the “Radbruch‐Kelsen debate on Nazi Law.” In examining the debate, it will argue for a substantive account of the morality of the law, as expressed in Radbruch's Formula.     

International Conference on Harmonisation; guidance on quality of biotechnological/biological products: derivation and characterization of cell substrates used for production of biotechnological/biological products; availability. Notice. Food and Drug Administration,HHS

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is publishing a guidance entitled "Q5D Quality of Biotechnological/Biological Products:Derivation and Characterization of Cell Substrates Used for Production of Biotechnological/Biological Products." The guidance was prepared under the auspices of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH).The document provides broad guidance on appropriate standards for the derivation and characterization of cell substrates used in the production of biotechnological/biological products and recommends information in these areas that should be presented in marketing applications.