Heavyweights call for patent reform

Governments and academics have launched a campaign to reform a patent system which they say is strangling innovation and creativity.

The Adelphi Charter on Creativity, Innovation and Intellectual Property describes the current patent system as "out of touch with reality", and has called on governments to take more account of the public good when granting patents. 

The group has also called for much shorter intellectual property ownership periods, and for developing nations to receive more attention over controlling patent information.

"The excessive use of intellectual property laws is working against the public interest, and any changes to the intellectual property legal framework should be held to a public interest test," said the organisation in a statement.

"Governments should do more to promote open, non-monopolistic mechanisms for sharing intellectual property."

The group is backed by some heavyweight names, including Gilberto Gil, the Brazilian minister of culture; Sir John Sulston, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine; and Professor Lawrence Lessig, chairman of the Creative Commons and professor of law at Stanford Law School. 

The group is particularly keen for governments to adopt the proposals and has called for an automatic presumption against any extension of patent periods or extension of rights. The patenting of data and business models should also be halted.