In addition, abusive gene patenting as it has occured in the United States has been hurting American patients, and has outraged patient organizations in the U.S who are thus actively relaying their anger to their European counterparts. When reading the Directive, a lot of our members could not get a good sense of what it does allow, and felt that the Directive should express more clearly the limits of patent applications. However, all of them are convinced that such a Directive is sorely needed in Europe to stimulate research on the use of genes in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of rare diseases. When discussing this Directive, our members could not reach a consensus position. Arguments in favor and against this Directive were raised.
Patents are powerful incentives for the industry.
By protecting the rights of the inventor, patents create a secure environment where companies may invest money into research and development. Freedom of research remains protected in Europe. One of the major complaints patient organizations have had with gene patenting in the United States was related to freedom to do research on patented genes. By granting patents on genes which use had not to be proven, the American Patent Office allowed patent owners to control research on the genes they had patented. American law does not make licensing compulsory, and patent owners may decide to block any further research on the genes they patented.