Across the world, patent systems have become contentious, linked to issues of health, economic inequality, and morality. By following US and European patents, from their origins in the fifteenth century through the tumult brought by biotechnology, and through comparative case studies of patent battles related to animals, human embryonic stem cells, human genes, and plants, Shobita Parthasarathy reveals that the United States and Europe are acquiring very different approaches to patent and innovation governance. The United ...
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Across the world, patent systems have become contentious, linked to issues of health, economic inequality, and morality. By following US and European patents, from their origins in the fifteenth century through the tumult brought by biotechnology, and through comparative case studies of patent battles related to animals, human embryonic stem cells, human genes, and plants, Shobita Parthasarathy reveals that the United States and Europe are acquiring very different approaches to patent and innovation governance. The United States and Europe have long thought differently about the role of government vis-a-vis the market, particularly when it comes to regulating innovation and shaping public morality, and this has guided the development of their patent systems. Parthasarathy shows in sharp relief how their approaches led them to dissimilar decisions regarding life form patentability with implications far beyond the world of biotechnology patent law to how we understand and value life itself, and shape its governance."
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