the New Delhi-based Patent Facilitating Centre of the Department of Science and Technology has just released a report on the patenting of micro-organisms.

The task has been more than difficult because the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights ( trip s) does not provide any guidelines or suggestions about what a micro-organism is or what all is included under this term. However, it has been made mandatory by Article 27 (3) (b) of the Agreement on trip s, which implies that the member states are required to put into place a system of patenting micro-organisms.

The report is an effort to analysethe patent laws in developed and developing countries. A list of patents issued by the us patent office andthe European patent office followsuit. Scientists have not been ignored either.