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RE: [ccp4bb]: License required for deposited structures!

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> idea of the patent system is to give the inventor exclusive rights to
> make use of their invention for a limited period of time (usually 20
> years), after which the information will be made public. That's the

this is not true - patents are published in excruciating detail a certain
amount of time (in sweden, 18 months) after they have been submitted (even if
they are not accepted). a patent gives you an exclusive right (typically
during 20 years) to produce, sell and import whatever is covered by the
patent, a right that can be transfered (granted) or licensed out (sold).

>   It might be April 1st, but patents can potentially constitute real
> problems even for academics in the future! I really think people should

this is not true either - information in patents may be used for
non-commercial purposes (such as academic research)

> publicise any good ideas they come up with to the bulletin board, so we
> can prevent companies from filing patents in the future...

patents have a good side too in that information that would otherwise be
buried in a company is being published. also keep in mind that many things
cannot be patented (in sweden: theories, discoveries, computer programs,
teaching methods, objets d'art, disease treatments, etc. in the us, disease
treatments and computer programs can be patentable, though). other things that
are good to know: a patent can only be obtained for a functioning technical
solution to a problem, which is both novel and non-obvious, and only the
inventor can apply for a patent.

(C) 2003 --dvd (TM)

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                        Gerard J.  Kleywegt
    [Research Fellow of the Royal  Swedish Academy of Sciences]
Dept. of Cell & Molecular Biology  University of Uppsala
                Biomedical Centre  Box 596
                SE-751 24 Uppsala  SWEDEN

    http://xray.bmc.uu.se/gerard/  mailto:gerard@xray.bmc.uu.se
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