Si le brevet m’était conté…. Petite histoire d’une finalité détournée

In his academic life and professional practice, Bernard Remiche has been interested in the evolution of the patent and its functions. At first, countries that wanted to develop their industry were not in favor of patents because they saw them as an obstacle to free trade, preventing them from practicing imitation. This approach changed when they reached a stage of development that allowed them to innovate. From this point on, the traditional function of the patent was valued. It rewarded inventors for their effort, in return for which they had to disclose their inventions, so that the progress they had made would benefit as many people as possible. On a global scale, patents should have benefited the least developed countries, specifically by promoting the transfer of technology required for their development. However, this has not been the case, as globalization has transformed the concept of patents into a tool for international competitiveness. In an effort to control the circulation of patented inventions completely, the industrialized countries worked together to create an agreement on intellectual property, which was then negotiated at the WTO. This is how the TRIPS Agreement, which requires all members to set up a patent system in their national legislation, was adopted in 1994. Bernard Remiche has studied the rules laid down by this body of work, and in particular the margins of freedom left to states to adapt their patent system to the specific objectives of their socio-economic and technological policies; he has shown how little effectiveness there is in practice. Indeed, the integration of patents into the regulation of international trade has led to a reinforcement of inequalities between countries, depending on whether or not they have innovation and production capabilities, in particular within the pharmaceutical field. Bernard Remiche has called out a growing polarization of the world economy. On one side, there are the innovative multinationals that hold the keys to scientific and technical progress, concentrated into a handful of countries. On the other side, there are most of the countries with little or no innovative capability and no longer able to develop it (like their predecessors before them), due to the ban on imitation imposed at the global level by the TRIPS Agreement. This phenomenon has been exacerbated by the deterioration in the quality of patents, with offices ? either overburdened or too lax ? increasingly granting titles for inventions that do not meet the requirements of the TRIPS Agreement, including the disclosure requirement. The trend that has marked the departure from the traditional purpose of patents is their use by multinationals as a competitive weapon to preempt markets (blocking strategies). This degradation of the system has been precipitated by the financialization of patents, which has itself become an object of commerce. With these observations in mind and considering the importance of the underlying issues, Bernard Remiche called for a reform of the patent system that would restore its traditional function and remind us that it remains an exception to the freedom of trade and industry. Thus, he proposed several measures to level the balance between private interests and common interests.