Pila Justine
J Med Ethics. 2014 Jan;40(1):27-32. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2012-100761. Epub 2012 Jul 26.
This paper responds to an invitation by the editors to consider whether the intellectual property (IP) regime suggests an appropriate model for protecting interests in detached human body parts. It begins by outlining the extent of existing IP protection for body parts in Europe, and the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the patent system in that regard. It then considers two further species of IP right of less obvious relevance. The first are the statutory rights of ownership conferred by domestic UK law in respect of employee inventions, and the second are the economic and moral rights recognised by European and international law in respect of authorial works. In the argument made, both of these species of IP right may suggest more appropriate models of sui generis protection for detached human body parts than patent rights because of their capacity better to accommodate the relevant public and private interests in respect of the same.
本文应编辑邀请，探讨知识产权（IP）制度是否为保护分离的人体部分中的权益提供了适当模式。文章首先概述了欧洲对人体部分现有知识产权保护的范围，以及专利制度在这方面的相关优缺点。接着考虑了另外两种相关性不太明显的知识产权。第一种是英国国内法赋予雇主对雇员发明的法定所有权，第二种是欧洲和国际法承认的对作者作品的经济和道德权利。在本文的论证中，这两种知识产权都可能比专利权更适合作为分离人体部分的特殊保护模式，因为它们能更好地兼顾相关的公共和私人利益。
