We urge the European Parliament to enact legislation that would award patents for biotech medicines, as well as process patents to protect manufacturing processes. We oppose patenting genes or gene sequences, however, because the patent owner can prevent or delay scientific research that may be important to mankind. When concern is voiced about negative implications on research and development, proponents of the Directive claim that it will not be affected because of the 'research exemption' in European patent law that enables researchers to undertake basic research in areas where patents are granted. However, this is a totally misleading argument. Firstly, the term 'research exemption' does not exist in the Directive.
Researchers are exempt from patent fees by virtue of what a patent is a marketing monopoly.
Any non-commercial activity with a patented product does not infringe the patent. In the USA, this question is more often than not resolved by the courts, which have tended to rule in a rather narrow way. However, in Europe no such guidelines exist. This caused considerable problems a few years ago, when a Toronto-based company wanted to collect licence fees from European hospitals using a test kit for cystic fibrosis. Nowadays, little basic research is conducted without a commercial background.