Globalizing economies of knowledge: The scope of patentable subject matter under Article 27 of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding genetic resources and biotechnological inventions

This dissertation examines the scope of patentable subject matter under Article 27 of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) with respect to biotechnological inventions and improved genetic resources. In tracing this scope, the dissertation examines options and elements of flexibility embedded in TRIPS standards concerning the patentability of biotechnological inventions and improved genetic material. The dissertation then examines interfaces between the implementation of these TRIPS standards and the application of access and benefit-sharing frameworks for genetic resources. On the access and benefit-sharing side, it analyzes the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Bonn Guidelines and elements of a draft international regime on access and benefit-sharing' of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The dissertation surveys the national and regional implementation of these international instruments in the field of patent law on the one hand and of access and benefit-sharing on the other through a comparative analysis of 57 patent laws and 35 access and benefit-sharing laws. The methods used in the dissertation are the customary rules of interpretation of public international law, as set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and a comparative method.