Witek Rafał
Witek, Twardowska, Sniezko, Patent Attorneys, Wrocław, Poland.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2005 Jan;11(1):105-11. doi: 10.1007/s11948-005-0062-8.
The systems of patent rights in force in Europe today, both at the level of national law and on the regional level, contain general clauses prohibiting the patenting of inventions whose publication and exploitation would be contrary to "ordre public" or morality. Recent years have brought frequent discussion about limiting the possibility of patent protection for biotechnological inventions for ethical reasons. This is undoubtedly a result of the dynamic development in this field in the last several years. Human genome sequencing, the first successful cloning of mammals, and the progress in human stem cell research present humanity with many new questions of an ethical nature. Directive 98/44 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 6, 1998, on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions created a new basis for patent protection in this field of technology. Based on the European experience to now, however, it must be said that patent law is not the right place to legislate the consequences of the morality of an invention.
当今欧洲现行的专利制度，无论是在国家法律层面还是区域层面，都包含一般性条款，禁止对那些其公布和利用将违背“公共秩序”或道德的发明授予专利。近年来，出于伦理原因，关于限制生物技术发明获得专利保护可能性的讨论频繁出现。这无疑是该领域过去几年动态发展的结果。人类基因组测序、哺乳动物的首次成功克隆以及人类干细胞研究的进展给人类带来了许多具有伦理性质的新问题。1998年7月6日欧洲议会和理事会关于生物技术发明法律保护的第98/44号指令为该技术领域的专利保护创造了新的基础。然而，基于目前欧洲的经验，必须指出专利法并非对发明道德后果进行立法的合适场所。
