Peter Yu, SARS and the Patent Race, Writ, May 29, 2003. Excerpt: "In the past month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the British Columbia Cancer Agency, and the University of Hong Kong have been battling to patent the coronavirus that is believed to cause SARS. Although no institution can currently claim a monopoly on the treatments for the disease, the patenting race has sparked major concern in the public health arena. If an individual or an individual company could indeed obtain such a monopoly, the results could be disastrous."
PS: In a May 10 news story, the CDC said that its patent application was defensive only. Quoting Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC: The Center worried that other patent holders "could potentially lock out competitors from being able to participate in the patent, or products of that patent. And so if there is going to be a patent issued, we would apply for it, so that we could ensure open access as we went forward."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 6/04/2003 03:18:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
