Is There “Patent” in Islam? Tabrez Y

Is There “Patent” in Islam? Tabrez Y. Ebrahim [email protected]

Source: Inventor Spot

1 Roadmap 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 Primary & Secondary Sources of Law in Islam scholarly analogy Quran consensus Sharia (Primary & Secondary public Sources of Law) interest Sunnah equity

Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) necessity [human understanding of Sharia] custom

continuity ...... Sunni Shia Ibadi

Oman

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

Saudi Arabia Qatar Analysis of Sharia à Research Questions

Property

Intellectual Property

Patent Post-Issuance Proceedings Eligibility (Administrative Law) Property Classifications à Legal Tension

Property (classification)

ownership chattel type of right primary / incidental

usufruct proprietary justification limitations for “patent” on “patent” Spectrum

commons trespass public usufruct exclusivity domain • Roman/Civilian usage

incomplete • conceptual usage limited ownership duration Property Theory Debate profit w/o concealment of effort & labor? knowledge ?

Property (classification) monopolization? idenfiniteness?

ownership chattel type of right primary / incidental physical possession? speculative risk ? Hanafi usufruct proprietary justification limitations for “patent” on “patent” ethics? Parallel to Islamic Finance: Proposed Sharia Board as Assessor of Patent Eligibility Traditional Murabaha Justifying Patents Goods Inventions (immediate delivery) (immediate delivery) Supplier Patent Society: Financier Office + of goods Sharia Property immediate payment Trustee Board immediate trustee

Deferred Lifetime of a Goods Payment Patent Patent (immediate (includes a Application (filing Date + delivery) mark up) (immediate years until delivery) expiration)

Customer Inventor U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO): Revised Patent Eligibility Guidance

Proposed Examination by a Sharia Board [NOT in a patent office , NOT by patent examiners] Contributions

§ à Property-centric clarification of usufructs as justification for the construct of “patent” in Islam

• (1) clarification of usufructs

• (2) recognition of commerce, profit, & trade

§ à Application of clarification towards patent eligibility

• (3) lessening of what may be patent eligible in biotechnology (cloning, gene editing, stem cells) & software applications (A.I., M.L., predictive analytics)

• (4) move patent eligibility examination to be administered by a Sharia Board Q&A

Is There “Patent” in Islam? Tabrez Y. Ebrahim [email protected] Source: Inventor Spot