The Role of Patents and Licensing in the Governance of Human Genome Editing: A White Paper

52 Pages Posted: 2 Aug 2021 Last revised: 12 Aug 2021

See all articles by Duncan Matthews

Duncan Matthews

Queen Mary University of London - School of Law

Abbe Brown

School of Law, University of Aberdeen

Emanuela Gambini

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Timo Minssen

University of Copenhagen - Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CeBIL) - Faculty of Law

Ana Nordberg

Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden

Jacob S. Sherkow

University of Illinois College of Law; Carle Illinois College of Medicine; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - European Union Center; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

Jakob Wested

Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CeBIL); University of Copenhagen; Danish Medicines Agency

Esther van Zimmeren

Centre of Excellence GOVTRUST, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Aisling McMahon

Maynooth University; National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUI Maynooth) - Department of Law : Ireland

Date Written: July 30, 2021

Abstract

On 12 July 2021 the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing published a set of reports entitled Human Genome Editing: A Framework for Governance and Recommendations. These reports provide valuable advice and recommendations on appropriate institutional, national and global governance mechanisms for human genome editing. The Expert Advisory Committee’s A Framework for Governance highlights explicitly the role that patents and licences can play as a form of governance of human genome editing. The Recommendations state that the Committee ‘believes that governance measures based on patents or [other forms of] intellectual property, when used together with other tools, may help strengthen the governance and oversight of human genome editing’ [and that] ‘It will be important to avoid using patents in ways that potentially prevent others from delivering similar capabilities at a cheaper cost’. This paper responds to the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Committee and elaborates further on the role that patents and licensing can play in the governance of human genome editing. It concludes with our own recommendations on how the role of patents and licensing can be considered further in the light of the WHO Expert Advisory Committee’s reports.

Suggested Citation

Matthews, Duncan and Brown, Abbe and Gambini, Emanuela and Minssen, Timo and Nordberg, Ana and Sherkow, Jacob S. and Wested, Jakob and van Zimmeren, Esther and McMahon, Aisling, The Role of Patents and Licensing in the Governance of Human Genome Editing: A White Paper (July 30, 2021). Queen Mary Law Research Paper No. 364/2021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3896308

Duncan Matthews (Contact Author)

Queen Mary University of London - School of Law ( email )

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.qmul.ac.uk/law/people/academic-staff/

Abbe Brown

School of Law, University of Aberdeen ( email )

Taylor Building
King's College
Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 3UB
United Kingdom

Emanuela Gambini

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Timo Minssen

University of Copenhagen - Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CeBIL) - Faculty of Law ( email )

Karen Blixens Plads 16
Copenhagen, 2300
Denmark
+46 708 607517 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://jura.ku.dk/cebil/staff/profile/?pure=en/persons/381631

Ana Nordberg

Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden ( email )

Lilla Gråbrödersgatan 4
Lund, 222 22
Sweden
+46462221054 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.law.lu.se/#!AnaNordberg

Jacob S. Sherkow

University of Illinois College of Law ( email )

504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue
Champaign, IL 61820
United States

Carle Illinois College of Medicine ( email )

506 S Mathews Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
United States

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - European Union Center ( email )

Coble Hall
801 S Wright St
Champaign, IL 61820

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology ( email )

Urbana, IL
United States

Jakob Wested

Centre for Advanced Studies in Biomedical Innovation Law (CeBIL) ( email )

Karen Blixens Plads 16
København S, 2300
Denmark

University of Copenhagen ( email )

Karen Blixens Plads 16
København S, 2300
Denmark

Danish Medicines Agency ( email )

Axel Heides Gade 1
Copenhagen S, 2300
Denmark
2300 (Fax)

Esther Van Zimmeren

Centre of Excellence GOVTRUST, University of Antwerp, Belgium ( email )

Venusstraat 23
Antwerp, 2000
Belgium

Aisling McMahon

Maynooth University ( email )

Maynooth, County Kildare
Ireland

National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUI Maynooth) - Department of Law : Ireland ( email )

Maynooth
Ireland

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/people/aisling-mcmahon

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