RE: Palm oil and the environment

[Guest guest]

Agreed. We paid it for it, it should belong to us, not some big drug company

that charges billions of dollars for it.

Judith Alta

-----Original Message-----

From: Alobar [mailto:alobar@...]

Re: Re: Palm oil and the

environment

> People and companies patent their products to protect their

> intellectual property, so no one else can profit from the time and

> expense they've put into developing them. Nothing wrong with that.

If

> I invented something, whether a unique formula for a product or an

> industrial process or if I wrote a book or a play, I'd want to

> protect that work from being taken by others, who could claim they

> invented it and profit from it at my expense. Nothing wrong with

> wanting to protect your financial interests.

>

> You like to get paid for your work, don't you? It's hardly

reasonable

> to castigate companies for wanting to get paid.

> Jeanmarie

If research is done with private funds, I fully agree,

however research done at Universities is mostly paid for with public

funds -- salaries of the researchers, equipment, laboratories, etc.

Some small percent of the cost comes from a grant form a company. I

don't know about Canada, but in the US, hen a company gives a

research grant to a University, the money is supposedly a donation,

and is a tax write-off for the company. So I feel research done by

universities should not be patented. Patenting research done at

public expense cheats the public. Research done using public money

should be in the public domain.

Alobar

[Guest guest]

I have email contact with Bruce Fife; I'll ask him if he'd like to drop in to

answer a few questions. I'm sure he will; but pewrhaps we should prepare the

questions first?

I also have contact with Sally Fallon.

Sharon M.

-Bruce Fife is occassionally at the Coconut info group.erhaps he could be

contacted there.Itwould be great to find out where his source is.

IN NC

[Guest guest]

> To lobby successfully in US politics one needs more than to

>hire some people, have an office, and print up some research papers.

>One needs to contribute huge sums of money to many many political

>campaigns over the years. I say it's bribery, but the crooks in

>congress don't agree with me.

Sad but true.

Jeanmarie

[Guest guest]

>Agreed. We paid it for it, it should belong to us, not some big drug company

>that charges billions of dollars for it.

I think they have to buy the patent rights, most universities don't

just give them away, anymore, and more universities are setting up

their own companies to exploit their own patents.

Jeanmarie

[Guest guest]

RE: Re: Palm oil and the

environment

> >Agreed. We paid it for it, it should belong to us, not some big

drug company

> >that charges billions of dollars for it.

>

> I think they have to buy the patent rights, most universities don't

> just give them away, anymore, and more universities are setting up

> their own companies to exploit their own patents.

> Jeanmarie

As much of the money comes from public funds, it is not fair

that *anyone* be allowed to patent the research.

Alobar