WA General Assembly Vote: Repeal "Foreign Patent Recognition"

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Category: Repeal
Resolution: GA#347
Proposed by: [nation]Wallenburg[/nation]
Onsite topic: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=356619

Description: WA General Assembly Resolution #347: Foreign Patent Recognition (Category: Free Trade; Strength: Mild) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: Recognizing the utility of patents to many member states;

Encouraging well-reasoned legislation on the issue of patent rights and intellectual property;

Noting that GA #347 provides insufficient framework to prevent private entities and states from filing patents to block technological and scientific development in other nations, even if they have no interest in the technologies they patent;

Regretting that the target resolution allows patent holders to severely restrict use and availability of vital pharmaceutical products, thereby extending the suffering of citizens in many member nations who cannot afford to purchase exclusively patented medicines;

Noticing that GA #347 leaves many less advanced member states and their inhabitants to suffer the loss of their intellectual rights to more advanced member states and their inhabitants;

Concerned that, in order to enforce their patents abroad, patent holders must divulge the specifications of their technology, even if said technology's secrecy is a matter of crucial security;

Unconvinced that the ten-year minimum for foreign patent recognition set in clause four (4) is anything but an arbitrarily set number, with no absolutely consideration for the varying value of time on different member nations;

Aware that the concept of a patent is foreign to many member states' economic philosophies or ideologies, and may run entirely contrary to those of several member states;

Worried that GA #347 effectively forces nations without a patent system to adopt one, without recognizing the effects patents may have on their economic model or their ideological rights;

Disappointed that this resolution seeks to impose national law beyond its jurisdiction into other nations, compelling nations to recognize the legal power of patent agreements made in foreign nations;

Ultimately convinced that GAR #347 needlessly reduces economic freedoms and limits property rights;

The World Assembly hereby repeals General Assembly Resolution #347, "Foreign Patent Recognition".

Co-authored by [nation]Caracasus[/nation].