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Douglas J. Dorsey -
Monsanto Company - USA |
August 2002 |
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Globally, are
intellectual property protection laws keeping up with the
accelerating pace of development in biotechnology? |
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Because patents
drive research, the patents granted over the past 20 years
have helped fuel and maintain the biotech industry. Without
effective
intellectual property protection it would be impossible for
any company
working in agricultural biotechnology to survive, much less
prosper.
At Monsanto, we value innovation, and firmly believe in the
legal protection
of intellectual property to encourage further innovation and
investment in
developing new technologies that drive economic growth. To
further our
research, development and business priorities, our practice is
to protect
our intellectual property with patents, license our
intellectual property
out to others, and access others' intellectual property by
licensing it in.
In other parts of the world, we have seen the impact that
inadequate
intellectual property protection can have. In situations like
this, we have
seen it directly impact our business - and led to our
re-evaluation of
investment in and commercialization of new technologies in
these cases.
As we look toward the future of this industry, intellectual
property
protection is going to become increasingly important. As a
company, Monsanto and our industry partners want to be able to
create new markets for what farmers grow, new uses for the
products that they can create, and also increase their
productivity. But as we look to do this, we need the to have
intellectual property protection. |
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