§ Mr. BeardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to ensure a common approach between the USA, the UK and the rest of the European Union to patents arising from the human genome project. [106603]
§ Ms HewittThe public and charitable funders of the international human genome project have agreed that they will release the gene sequence information they generate as quickly as possible; and they will not patent that information. The Government strongly support this approach as it allows maximum exploitation by public and private sector researchers of the data generated. Nonetheless, translating fundamental genome sequence information into new gene-based diagnostics and therapeutics will, in many circumstances, involve sufficient innovation to justify intellectual property protection.
The EU Directive on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions, which will come into force later this year, harmonises national patent laws within Europe. There are certain global norms, upon which the EU system is based, which are followed by other national authorities, including those of the United States. It is a matter solely for the national authorities to interpret these criteria in relation to applications for patents, including those concerning the human genome.