Commercial product exploitation from marine microbial biodiversity: some legal and IP issues

Abstract

SummaryThe biodiversity found in the marine environment is remarkable and yet largely unknown compared with the terrestrial one. The associated genetic resource, also wide and unrevealed, has raised a strong interest from the scientific and industrial community. However, despite this growing interest, the discovery of new compounds extracted from marine organisms, more precisely from microorganisms, is ruled by a complex legislation. The access and transfer of genetic resource are ruled by the Convention on Biological Diversity. One of the three core objectives of this convention is to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits generated by the use of genetic resources and to split these benefits between the different stakeholders. From the discovery of a microorganism to the commercialization of a product, three main stakeholders are involved: providers of microorganisms, e.g. academic institutes, the scientists who will perform R&D on biodiversity, and the industrial companies which will commercialize the final product arising from the R&D results. This article describes how difficult and complex it might be to ensure a fair distribution of benefits of this research between the parties.

Marine biotechnologies and synthetic biology, new issues for a fair and equitable profit-sharing commercial use

“…Many provisions do not raise any problem, however, those concerning publication of results, exploitation and the related financial commitments are generally controversial between the partners (Tichet et al, 2010). Academic groups generally wish to publish the results of their work, while the industrial partners look for patent filling.…”

Editorial – preview

“…Among those, the legal, economic and ethical implications have become key issues than can no longer be ignored, taking on a new dimension that is often controversial. They are covered in the first section, starting with the pros and cons of applying patents, viewed from two different perspectives: that of the IP service providers ( Giugni and Giugni, 2010 ), and that of the industry ( Tichet and Bloch, 2010 ). The issue of ownership of open sea genetic resources is further developed in an invited opinion article ( Gutnick, 2010 ) that proposes various policy‐related options for negotiation.…”