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 Copyright Patent Tr ade m ar k Tr ade Law Law Law Secret Law 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 1.