Moral and Political Concerns About Patents: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

The aim of this contribution is to address some issues concerning moral and political limitations to patentability. Although patents are rights that States protect in their territory, there are certain globally shared points on what constitutes a patent and what does not. These limitations can be of a technical nature, such as the novelty or commercial application of the invention, or of a moral and political nature. Almost all countries restrict inventions that affect national security and those that are contrary to morality or ordre public. I will show that, although these assumptions are shared by the different States, they are specified in a different way depending on social and cultural factors.