[PASSED] Foreign Patent Act

[Sygian]

Sorry, Knot. I beat you to it. <3 (Not even sure if I'm supposed to do this but I wanted to beat you at something.)

Foreign Patent Act

A resolution to reduce barriers to free trade and commerce.

Category: Free Trade

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Wallenburg

Observing the importance of intellectual property rights in many member states,

Cognizant of the risks associated with unnecessary interference in national policy on intellectual property,

Honoring this Assembly's pledged commitment to national sovereignty with regard to economic philosophy and ideology,

The World Assembly hereby:

1. Defines, for the purpose of this resolution:

"patent" as an official government statement granting an entity the legal right to exclude others from producing or generating profit with a particular invention,

"invention" as a process, good, device, or technology created by an entity,

2. Recognizes member nations' right to develop or not develop patent systems in general,

3. Forbids member nations from granting or recognizing patents for illegal inventions, as well as patents for any form of sapient life,

4. Directs a World Assembly Patent Service (WAPS) to grant any entity originating from a member state a patent, only if:

The entity holds a valid patent granted by the member nation it originates from for the same invention the entity seeks to patent via the WAPS,

The WAPS has not already granted a patent on the invention the entity seeks to claim as its intellectual property,

The entity demonstrates full responsibility for the development of the invention, an inventive step in developing it beyond merely observing or analyzing an already existing invention, and reasonable novelty and uniqueness of the invention in the member nation from which the entity originates,

The request meets any other basic formatting standards set by the WAPS in order to guarantee the legitimacy of the entity's patent request,

5. Tasks the WAPS with archiving all patents granted by member states or itself, and making its archives public to all member states and their citizens,

6. Further tasks the WAPS with evaluating the conditions of member states' economies and conducting any other relevant research in order to determine and set unbiased and appropriate expiration dates in each member nation on a case-by-case basis for its granted patents,

7. Mandates that all member states with patent systems observe all patents granted by the WAPS given that:

The patented invention is neither illegal, nor obsolete, nor in the public domain in that member nation at the time the inventive entity receives the patent,

The patented invention is of practical, commercial, or industrial use in that nation,

The patent holder has demonstrated intent to exercise its patent in that nation,

Previously passed World Assembly resolutions do not permit that member nation not to recognize the patent.

8. Requires all member states without patent systems to refrain from asserting intellectual property beyond their own borders.

Citizens may vote aye, nay, or abstain.

[Transdavisia]

Nay

[Auralia]

Against.

The resolution permits nations to simply opt-out of the international patent system it establishes, thus ensuring that it will be a failure. Research and development of new inventions requires a great deal of time, effort and money. If member states are free to refuse to recognize patents, they are free to mass produce and sell inventions at a fraction of the cost required to develop them and so will inevitably undercut the original inventor. The approach taken by this proposal sticks inventors with all of the risks and none of the rewards. Who would bother to innovate under these circumstances? Participation in any international patent system must be mandatory for the system to work.

It's also quite telling that the initial drafts for the resolution on the World Assembly forum did not establish an international patent system and simply banned the World Assembly from requiring member states to recognize patents. That's the author's real goal here, and it's not one I think will be beneficial to the World Assembly in the long term.

[Sygian]

Thanks for the explanation, that clears the meaning up for me. You of all people know I don't keep up with GA .

NAY

[Cormac]

Against.

[Adytus]

Nay

[Dr_PelIcaN]

Nay

[Sygian]

Foreign Patent Act was passed 10,008 votes to 9,026.