Wallenburg wrote:Auralia wrote:Couple of additional questions:
- What's preventing a member state from simply declaring all patents it doesn't want to recognize to be in the "public domain"?
"Among other things, the considerable outrage it would cause domestically, as inhabitants would not be able to protect their intellectual property either."
Why not? A nation could selectively declare some patents to be in the public domain but not others.
Wallenburg wrote:
- Member states are only required to recognize WAPS patents if a "previously passed World Assembly resolution[] [does] not permit that member nation not to recognize the patent"? What does that mean?
"There is a resolution whose name escapes me at the moment that permits member states to disregard patents for life-saving medications under extreme circumstances. This subclause makes sure that the proposal is not illegal for contradiction."
Well, as written, the clause doesn't actually accomplish that goal. It does not say that member states are under no obligation to recognize a patent when there is a resolution that does not permit them to do so. It says that member states are under no obligation to recognize a patent unless there is a resolution that does not permit them to not do so; in other words, unless there is a resolution that requires them to do so. This creates a loophole similar to the public domain one described above.
Martin Russell
Chief Ambassador, Auralian Mission to the World Assembly