earticle

영어

In recent years due to the scientific and industrial growth in the fields of bio-technology and computer science, there are the numberous, and more difficult, normative questions concerning patentable subject matter. The controversy on the limits of patentable subject matter in Draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty(SPLT) is based on the diversity of the scientific and industrial advance of WIPO members. In dealing with patentable subject matter of SPLT, a great deal of members are affirmative for including 'all fields of technology', to comply with the Article 27 of TRIPs. However, only a few members uphold that patentable subject matter may be 'anything under the sun that is made by man' (as in Charkrabarty), whether the invention depends on the specific technology or not. With respect to WIPO legislating on patentable subject matter and its influence on the existing Patent Act of Korea, this article speculates five considerations for resolving the questions exposed in dealing with patentable subject matter in SPLT; patent policy for industrial development, social/economic issue, normative issue for invention provision, international trade issue, and patent law harmonization.