[At Vote] Foreign Patent Act [Complete] [Complete]

Abbey

Abbey

TNPer
Category: Free Trade
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: Wallenburg
Onsite topic

Observing the importance of intellectual property rights in many member states,

Cognizant of the risks associated with unnecessary interference in national policy on intellectual property,

Honoring this Assembly's pledged commitment to national sovereignty with regard to economic philosophy and ideology,

The World Assembly hereby:

1. Defines, for the purpose of this resolution:
  • "patent" as an official government statement granting an entity the legal right to exclude others from producing or generating profit with a particular invention,
  • "invention" as a process, good, device, or technology created by an entity,
2. Recognizes member nations' right to develop or not develop patent systems in general,

3. Forbids member nations from granting or recognizing patents for illegal inventions, as well as patents for any form of sapient life,

4. Directs a World Assembly Patent Service (WAPS) to grant any entity originating from a member state a patent, only if:
  • The entity holds a valid patent granted by the member nation it originates from for the same invention the entity seeks to patent via the WAPS,
  • The WAPS has not already granted a patent on the invention the entity seeks to claim as its intellectual property,
  • The entity demonstrates full responsibility for the development of the invention, an inventive step in developing it beyond merely observing or analyzing an already existing invention, and reasonable novelty and uniqueness of the invention in the member nation from which the entity originates,
  • The request meets any other basic formatting standards set by the WAPS in order to guarantee the legitimacy of the entity's patent request,
5. Tasks the WAPS with archiving all patents granted by member states or itself, and making its archives public to all member states and their citizens,

6. Further tasks the WAPS with evaluating the conditions of member states' economies and conducting any other relevant research in order to determine and set unbiased and appropriate expiration dates in each member nation on a case-by-case basis for its granted patents,

7. Mandates that all member states with patent systems observe all patents granted by the WAPS given that:
  • The patented invention is neither illegal, nor obsolete, nor in the public domain in that member nation at the time the inventive entity receives the patent,
  • The patented invention is of practical, commercial, or industrial use in that nation,
  • The patent holder has demonstrated intent to exercise its patent in that nation,
  • Previously passed World Assembly resolutions do not permit that member nation not to recognize the patent.
8. Requires all member states without patent systems to refrain from asserting intellectual property beyond their own borders.
Click to expand...

Please vote for, against, abstain, or present.

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The diverse needs and makeup of this assembly's nations make legislating patents incredibly difficult, and this assembly has passed and repealed multiple resolutions on this subject. Even if we believed this proposal intended to create a means to regulate patents across the varied worlds and nations of this assembly, it places a great burden on nations filing patents without guaranteeing they will be honored by other member nations and would subject them to restrictions by less than scrupulous actors. These nations acting in bad faith could bind other nations with the same rules supposedly designed to protect their intellectual property, or overlook or ignore patents entirely if they were so inclined. As if these barriers were not enough, the proposal would also penalize nations who are economically disadvantaged, a factor that has no bearing on the validity of a patent and further allows nations with more means and opportunity to benefit. The true intention of this proposal, after all, is to prevent nations from being required to recognize patents. Any mechanism this proposal contemplates is made irrelevant by a nation's ability to ignore those provisions. If we are to go through the effort to create a patent recognition system, we must do so without sanctioning intellectual property theft.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote against the resolution.
 
I'm not sure. I am tending towards supporting this but it seems perhaps a little overbearing on WA members. On the surface it seems like a fair, bogstandard GA proposal, and I can't see massive issues that would make it better.
 
So the resolution, while it "recognizes member nations' right to develop or not develop patent systems in general," creates an international patent system only to be used by nations that have patent systems which, if I'm understanding this right, basically overrules the national patent system? It does say that it "mandates that all member states with patent systems observe all patents granted by the WAPS" if it meets certain criteria. I can't support that. It's not fair to my citizens.

There is a real life "World Intellectual Property Organization" that develops an international intellectual property system, but even the WIPO states that "Patents are territorial rights. In general, the exclusive rights are only applicable in the country or region in which a patent has been filed and granted, in accordance with the law of that country or region," (1) and "WIPO does not actually grant patents per se; the grant or refusal of a patent still rests with the relevant national or regional patent office." (2)


Against
 
I'd strongly encourage a vote against.

The resolution permits nations to simply opt-out of the international patent system it establishes, thus ensuring that it will be a failure. Research and development of new inventions requires a great deal of time, effort and money. If member states are free to refuse to recognize patents, they are free to mass produce and sell inventions at a fraction of the cost required to develop them and so will inevitably undercut the original inventor. The approach taken by this proposal sticks inventors with all of the risks and none of the rewards. Who would bother to innovate under these circumstances? Participation in any international patent system must be mandatory for the system to work.

It's also quite telling that the initial drafts for the resolution on the World Assembly forum did not establish an international patent system and simply banned the World Assembly from requiring member states to recognize patents. That's the author's real goal here, and it's not one I think will be beneficial to the World Assembly in the long term.
 
"2. Recognizes member nations' right to develop or not develop patent systems in general,"
I understand it as the legislative ability to develop standards to recognize patents, not to circumvent patent rights. It seems consistent with naming the WAP as the supervisor of all registered patents.

In 7.4. it is not allowed not to recognize the patent right, in my opinion.

However, I find it a little bit confusing. The idea seems good to me, the composition doesn't.

I think I should vote against it...but I like the idea
 
I'm not sure that a resolution allowing member states not to recognise patent law is such a terrible thing. Think of RL: There is no supernational law requiring it of all states. If it causes trade issues, those can be resolved via negotiation.
 
Guy:
I'm not sure that a resolution allowing member states not to recognise patent law is such a terrible thing. Think of RL: There is no supernational law requiring it of all states. If it causes trade issues, those can be resolved via negotiation.
Click to expand...
Actually, yes, there is. Yes, that's a treaty and not a legislative act, but that's just because states in RL aren't part of a world government like the World Assembly.
 
Voting on this resolution has ended.

Thanks to those nations who cast their votes. Your participation is a great help to the region.

This topic has been locked and sent to the Archives for safekeeping. If you would like this topic to be re-opened for further discussion, please contact the WA Delegate, a Global Moderator, or an Administrator for assistance. Thank you.
 
Voting on this resolution has ended.

Thanks to those nations who cast their votes. Your participation is a great help to the region.

This topic has been locked and sent to the Archives for safekeeping. If you would like this topic to be re-opened for further discussion, please contact the WA Delegate, a Global Moderator, or an Administrator for assistance. Thank you.
 
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