文章基本信息

标题：American Patent Policy, Biotechnology, and African Agriculture: The Case for Policy Change
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作者：Michael R. Taylor ; Jerry Cayford
期刊名称：Harvard Journal of Law and Technology
印刷版ISSN：0897-3393
出版年度：2004
卷号：17
期号：1-2
出版社：William S Hein
摘要：This Article addresses the impact of American patent policy on access to modern agricultural biotechnology in some of the world’s least developed countries, including some African nations. Substantial improvement in agricultural productivity is essential in many of these countries to achieving sustainable food security and reducing chronic rural poverty.1 Modern biotechnology can solve some of the basic productivity problems that plague small and subsistence farmers and impede the development of successful agricultural systems in sub- Saharan Africa. However, important components of the biotechnology tool kit — gene traits, plant transformation tools, and genetically improved germplasm — have been patented by companies with little economic incentive to develop and disseminate the technology to meet the needs of small-scale farmers, the backbone of African agriculture. This Article analyzes how United States patent policy affects the development and dissemination of biotechnology that would improve African agriculture and argues for expanding these countries’ access to patented agricultural technology in a food security context.