Schefczyk, Michael

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Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 8: 321–323, 2005.DOI: 10.1007/S10677-005-9359-6BOOK REVIEWChristoph Baumgartner and Dietmar Mieth (ed.), Patente am Leben?Ethische, Rechtliche und Politische Aspekte der Biopatentierung. MentisVerlag, Paderborn, 2003, 332 pp., 29.80Who would have anticipated three decades ago that patent law would soonbecome a hotbed of heated philosophical and political debates? The emer-gence of the biotechnological industry turned a dry word like ‘patent’ intoan ideological shibboleth. In some quarters of society, whether you arefor or against biopatents is no less significant than it once was whetheryou are for or against the private ownership of the means of production.The question, of course, concerns in both cases a complex matter andcalls for a multilayered answer. The anthology ‘Patente am Leben?’ is anenormously helpful reading for those who are fond of seeing such compli-cated issues from different professional, theoretical and ideological angles.Since only four of its fifteen contributions are in English, this publicationaddresses mainly the German-reading public. The first section sets thestage with articles by four representatives of organisations, which playan important part in structuring this field of policy. The piece by Rein-hard Hermann, director of the biotechnology department at the EuropeanPatent Office, aims at convincing the laymen that biopatents are less prob-lematic than they may imagine. In his concluding remark, he voices theview that the agitation about biopatents typically rests on a serious over-estimation of the significance of particular genes or genes in general forhuman life. At the other end of the ideological spectrum stands the contri-bution of Christopher Then, expert for issues of genetic engineering andbiopatents at Greenpeace. He argues for the view that patents on genes boildown to a systematic abuse of patent law, because they grant a temporarymonopoly on the use of a discovery and not – as it should be – on theuse of an invention. Unfortunately, at many points the somewhat polem-ical tone of the piece makes it sound like a less than reliable source ofinformation.The second part of the collection is devoted to the ethical aspects ofbiopatenting. Dietmar Mieth approaches the issue from a perspective ofsocial ethics. The main reservation of his well-informed paper concerns thepractice of patenting biological material (Stoffpatente). Like Then, Mieth322 BOOK REVIEWSavers that this practice is against the spirit of the patent system, whichshould further technological progress but not commercial privileges. Evenmore important for his stand is a metaphysical objection against the mate-rialism of modern biology that, according to him, is reflected in the patentsystem.The contribution ‘Biopatente – eine ethische Analyse’ is extracted froman expert report by N. Anwander, A. Bachmann, K.P. Rippe and P. Schaberfor the Swiss government. The report rejects what may be called the ‘com-modification objection against biopatents’. This objection considers patentson biological material to be a violation of the intrinsic value of creatures(Wu¨rde der Kreatur), which is protected by the Swiss constitution. Thearticle points out that patents do not violate the intrinsic value of an indi-vidual creature, since they refer to types and not to tokens. For instance,it is the idea of how to produce and commercially use the oncomouse thatis legally protected; and the legal protection of the commercial use of anidea cannot possibly violate the intrinsic value of a particular specimen.Nevertheless, the report expresses qualms about biopatents. Like other ar-ticles in the collection, the authors recommend that biopatents should onlybe granted for procedures, not products, since genes can be discovered butnot invented. Moreover, they see the staking of private property claimsby means of biopatents as a blatant violation of the Common Heritage ofMankind.The third part of the anthology deals with the legal aspects of the mat-ter. The contributions of Geertrui van Overwalles and Christine Godt pointout that biopatents tend to have a detrimental effect on the research atuniversities. Godt’s article recommends a strategic approach that copeswith the trade-off between the commodification of research and the tradi-tional communism (R. Merton) of the scientific community. In contrast,van Overwalles joins forces with the obviously considerable number ofproduct claim critics.The fourth part of the book focuses on the range and consequences ofproduct claims. Ingrid Schneider’s contribution gives an informative policyanalysis of the issue, whereas Henk van Belt and Bernd Nilles investigatethe consequences of the Treaty on Trade Related Aspects of IntellectualProperty (TRIPS) for global economic opportunities. Both authors arriveat the conclusion that TRIPS in its current form is to the disadvantage ofthe less developed world.A documentation of legal texts and a glossary complement the an-thology in a helpful way, but do not fully compensate for the absenceof an index, which is a serious flaw in an otherwise very valuablebook.BOOK REVIEWS 323MICHAEL SCHEFCZYKUniversita¨t Zu¨richPhilosophisches SeminarZollikerstrasse 117CH-8008 Zu¨richSwitzerlandE-mail: Michael.Schefczyk@access.unizh.ch

Patente am Leben? Ethische, Rechtliche und Politische Aspekte der Biopatentierung

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Patente am Leben? Ethische, Rechtliche und Politische Aspekte der Biopatentierung

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