INTRODUCTION
Ethics are those principles of our society that guides people by segregating well from the evil. Being at the carrefour between technological advancements and public policy, the domain of Intellectual Property Rights appears to welcome many of the challenges caused due to providing exclusiveness to the products of human brain.
Intellectual property is crucial in the cutting-edge world, where thoughts, developments, and imaginative works hold tremendous worth. IPR gives a legitimate structure to makers and trend-setters to safeguard their intangible assets in form of intellectual property, motivating development and empowering the creation of unique products and services. Nonetheless, chasing after and safeguarding these exclusive rights frequently prompts complex moral problems.
ETHICAL CONUNDRUMS IN IPR DOMAIN
- Access To Knowledge
Access to Knowledge is a critical moral issue with respect to the domain of Intellectual Property Rights. It spins around the harmony between safeguarding the privileges of creators and developers meanwhile guaranteeing that society overall can access and profit from information, data, and progressions. Especially when it comes to patents on pharmaceuticals, it can put restrictions and limitations on access to essential medicines for the poor people or even nations. This issue is really serious as it concerns with life and health of the people and patents are granted on essential medicines and drugs without which people could succumb to life threatening diseases.
Learning should be accessible to all, but stringent copyright laws can restrict access to educational resources, hindering education and learning. It acts as a barrier to research and development too. Moral concerns occur when information that could have benefitted the society at large is kept hidden behind paywalls or among academic circles curbing its potential benefits. Restricting Access to Knowledge can further deepen the roots of social inequalities when certain groups, regions or nations gets excluded from utilising the data and information due to political, cultural, social, financial or geographical barriers.
- Monopoly and Control
Intellectual Property protection grants Exclusive rights to the owner of that specific IP which can ultimately lead to Monopoly and Control in the market. It imposes consequential moral concerns, primarily stemming from the extensive powers granted to the right holders. This problem mainly arises in the cases of strong Patent protection to the developer of a new sophisticated technology. This can lead to Anti-competitive practices, preventing other proprietors from utilising, improving and building upon existing technologies. Monopolies resulting due to Intellectual Property Rights can lead to higher prices of goods and services making them out of reach for common people.
Exorbitant control over Intellectual property can be a double-edged sword which can impede innovation rather than inspire it. When a particular proprietor establishes monopoly over a product or service, others may get discouraged from working on that technology which may stagnant the growth and development. It is a threat to collective advancement of the society.
- Growth of Biotechnology and Bioethics
Research and Development in the regime of Biotechnology literally touch the aspects of life and death. The technology these days hold so much potential that it has reached upto the cloning of humans. Biotech developments such as Genetic Engineering, Manipulation of cell lines, Growth Hormones etc have caused the world to worry about the unlimited possibilities that the science and technology holds and the various ethical dimensions in reference to these progressions. These inventions and modifications precisely touch the fundamental scenario of natural life such as dignity of human body and genetic integrity of humanity. Moreover, ethical concerns regarding the equitable access to the benefits of latest developments, the voluntary consent and welfare of the humans involved in those projects and the protection of environment are also a reason to worry. The major life, health and environment rights issues can arise from biotechnical inventions.
Bioethics and intellectual property rights intersect in various ways, particularly in respects of innovation and development, access to healthcare, and the ethical considerations revolving around the production and distribution of medical advancements. The developers of Biotechnology often relies on patents to protect their novel invention. While patents protect the invention hence, providing incentive in furtherance of science and innovations it also raises major ethical dilemmas such as limiting the accessibility and availability of essential products and medicines due to their higher costs and creation of monopoly in the market.
- Cultural and Traditional Knowledge
Traditional knowledge, held by indigenous and local communities, comprises of valuable information regarding medicinal plants and herbs, agricultural practices, cultural expressions, and more. In today's era of commercialisation, traditional know-how gets patented without even proper consent or benefit-sharing which lead to exploitation and economic injustice. Also, it negatively impacts the conservation of natural resources and sustainable development. It raises serious questions about who gets benefitted from the commercial use of this knowledge and who actually should reap benefits from that knowledge. Determining the ownership of Traditional Knowledge is challenging but is essential for the purposes of IPR protection.
The need and value of herbal and organic products are increasing day by day not only in local areas but also in urban and modern societies. The Traditional and indigenous cultural knowledge is like an open treasure box for fulfilling those needs and wants, hence generating immense profit and wealth. The Traditional Knowledge which is undoubtedly the most precious asset of indigenous people is in the utter danger of being exploited. The Indigenous Committees have many a times argued that they do not utilise their profound knowledge to innovate. The wealth of their knowledge is guided by spiritual and cultural principles. When the big corporations or individuals try to misappropriate traditional knowledge, it violates the customary laws and is disparaging towards cultural identity of indigenous people. But this has never stopped identities from taking unfair advantage of these people and their knowledge which is evident from the cases like-
The Neem Case: US and European Union granted the patent to a company for an invention in which the key element was appropriating the pesticidal properties of neem plant. Indians have been suing neem specifically for its pesticidal properties since time immemorial.
The Turmeric Case: Two US-based Indians were granted a Patent for the use of Healing Capacities of Turmeric. The patent is granted for a novel and non-obvious invention which has not been known previously. CSIR then located thirty-two references, some of them being older than 100-years, proving that the healing properties of neem was a priorly known part of India's Traditional Knowledge.
- Biowar and Bioterrorism
The threat of Biowar or Bioterrorism is very real and could occur in any part of the world at any time. If history has taught us anything it is that no one can ever underestimate the destruction and ruination bioweapons could cause. It brings no shock that the government all over the world are ever preparing for a probable bioterrorist attack. Bioterrorism while primarily is a social security concern, also intersects with ethical conundrums involved with Intellectual Property Rights. Some scientific inventions especially pertaining to biotechnological developments may have dual-use potential. They can obviously be very useful in the agricultural, medical and pharmaceutical fields but may also be severely misappropriated for unethical and destructive purposes such as biowars and bioterrorism. Balancing scientific developments with responsible oversight to prevent the making and use of bioweapons is a serious ethical challenge.
Protecting intellectual property rights in the realm of biotechnological inventions raises ethical questions regarding the responsibility of researchers, developers, institutions, and governments. How should they balance safeguarding intellectual property meanwhile ensuring that this research and data is not utilised for deleterious purposes? Whether certain innovations that holds potential dual-use application should be granted with patent protection? Ethical guidelines and regulations are vital to promote responsible research and prevent the misuse of intellectual property for the malicious purposes.
CONCLUSION
Addressing all kinds of ethical issues requires a delicate balance between promoting innovation and development, acknowledging individual rights, ensuring benefit-sharing and fair compensation, fostering access to knowledge, safeguarding the public interest, conservation of biological resources and sustainable development. Ethical frameworks, regulatory oversight, stakeholders' agreements, and a commitment to assess societal welfare with individual rights are indispensable in navigating this complicated web of ethical challenges within the realm of IPR.
References-
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