IsThere“Patent”inIslam?

TabrezY.EbrahimTEbrahim@cwsl.edu

Source: Inventor Spot

1

1) Introduction: Law in Islam, Sources of Law, & Schools of Jurisprudence

2) Formulating a Positive Normative Theory of “Patent” in Islam, + Parallel to Islamic Finance

3) Establishing a Patentable Eligibility Examination Framework in Countries Governed by Sharia

4) Case Study Countries (Oman, Qatar, & Saudi Arabia): Patent Laws & Economic Development

5) Q&A

Roadmap

Fiqh (IslamicJurisprudence)[human understanding ofSharia]

Sunni Shia Ibadi

Hanafi Hanbali Maliki Shafi’i “12ers” Ismai’li

SaudiArabia Qatar

Oman

Primary&SecondarySourcesofLawinIslamQuran

Sunnah

Sharia(Primary&Secondary

SourcesofLaw)

custom

analogy

publicinterest

......

necessity

equity

scholarlyconsensus

continuity

Property

IntellectualProperty

CopyrightLaw

PatentLaw

TrademarkLaw

TradeSecretLaw

PatentEligibility

Post-IssuanceProceedings(AdministrativeLaw)

AnalysisofShariaà ResearchQuestions

Property(classification)

ownership chattel typeofright primary/incidental

usufruct proprietaryjustificationfor“patent”

limitationson“patent”

PropertyClassificationsà LegalTension

Spectrum

commons trespassusufruct

incompleteownership

exclusivity

limitedduration

publicdomain • Roman/Civilianusage

conceptualusage•

Property(classification)

ownership chattel typeofright primary/incidental

usufruct proprietaryjustificationfor“patent”

limitationson“patent”

PropertyTheoryDebate concealmentofknowledge ?profitw/o

effort&labor?idenfiniteness?monopolization?

speculativerisk ?

Hanafi

physicalpossession?

ethics?

ParalleltoIslamicFinance:ProposedShariaBoardasAssessorofPatentEligibility

Financier

Customer

Supplierofgoods

TraditionalMurabaha

immediatepayment

Goods(immediatedelivery)

Goods(immediatedelivery)

DeferredPayment(includesamarkup)

PatentOffice+ShariaBoard

Inventor

Society:PropertyTrustee

JustifyingPatents

immediatetrustee

PatentApplication(immediatedelivery)

Inventions(immediatedelivery)

LifetimeofaPatent

(filingDate+yearsuntilexpiration)

U.S.Patent&TrademarkOffice(USPTO):RevisedPatentEligibilityGuidance

Proposed Examination byaShariaBoard

[NOTinapatentoffice ,NOTbypatent examiners]

Contributions

§ à Property-centric clarification ofusufructs asjustification fortheconstructof“patent” inIslam

• (1)clarificationofusufructs

• (2)recognitionofcommerce,profit,&trade

§ à Application ofclarification towardspatenteligibility

• (3)lesseningofwhatmaybepatenteligibleinbiotechnology(cloning,geneediting,stemcells)&softwareapplications(A.I.,M.L.,predictiveanalytics)

• (4)movepatenteligibilityexaminationtobeadministeredbyaShariaBoard

IsThere“Patent”inIslam?Tabrez Y.EbrahimTEbrahim@cwsl.edu

Source: Inventor Spot

1

Q&A