Patentable Subject Matter
- Introduction.
When analyzing the validity element of the three tier analysis that inspired the TRIPS PLUS ULTRA proposal (the other two elements are its justice and its effectiveness), we´ve said that the TRIPS Agreement sets a global standard, and that this global standard admits exceptions and limitations (the relevance of the limitations must be measure in comparison with the global heart). One of the posible limitations that countries may establish within their borders regards the patentable subject matter (exceptions to the patentability of certain products, e.i., determining certain inventions as non-patentable subject matter). In other words, according to the general principle of the TRIPS Agreement, patents should be granted to all inventions in all fields of technology. This principle admits exceptions (each of them will be addressed in separate pages):
2. Exceptions regarding the patentable subject matter.
These exceptions may refer to: (1) inventions whose exploitation should be prevented to protect certain values, such as ordre public or morality, health, or life; (2) diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals; (3) products and procedures related to biological material; (4) the so-called second-use patents; and (5) scientific theories and mathematical methods. Additionally, there is no global standard for (6) plant variates and (7) utility models, among other categories, and thus each country determine the standard for this aspects freely.
Click in each of the above to see how the TRIPS PLUS ULTRA proposal could change the world address each of them.
For different kinds of limitations that countries may establish, click HERE.
(Go back to the validity analysis for more on what the global regulation regarding patents looks like.)