Document wQgG16XQKDJRKNXx5g4GwLn6

r their skills, and experience in a new" things as close to their vests as anyone to end. "This is a very rs job. Third, although the degrer'of novelty required for a trade spdretis not so high as that needed for a pat entable invention, the subject matter generally cannot be known or readily available. Fourth, the owner of the trade secret must take such steps to can. But once tiie patentable entity is achieved, the scientists have very little timeoo wait before publishing their results as comparedto what they y4tt used to in universities. The timpbetween completion of a project business and it requires a loi gence and perserveranee botl part of the scientists and the patent attorney involved." This policy, he admits, may cause problems in the future once the in dustry's products finally enter tide safeguard that secrecy as are required y& patenting can amount to only marketplace, and associated know- to demonstrateintent that the infor #ours, Dreger says. The whole process "how such as purity improvements will mation not beXccessible to an outside 'takes at most months from beginning need trade secret protection. company. But som industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry, don't have Indexes aid chemicals' risk assessment to woitjabout protecting trade se crets. ^There really isn't any choice," all of the material produced is in says Stuart E. Suter of SmitnKline- haled, eaten, or drunk--the worst BecXman. The choice in/he phar- ease one possibly could envision and utical industry always falls to one that produces very high numbers. patents. Drugs, pesticides, and her The hazard indexes that Crouch has bicides do not lend /aemselves to calculated for 47 chemical compounds trade secret protection because all range from 0.5 death per year due to must receive government approval A strange thing happens when a gov 2,4,6-trichIorophenol, to Less than prior to marketing. In obtaining that ernment agency such as the Food St 130,000 for allyl chloride, to 6 million approval, the structure of the active Drug Administration or the Occupa fr_I,2-dicV component becomes known. Another tional Safety St Health Administra less of the ap- problem is thg fact that most phar tion seta out to protect the public >roacK Crouch cphtends that the maceuticals oan be reverse engineered from a perceived risk (or in the case of .provide a useful easily and /hus in the absence of the current Administration role, back initiaf'ealttitedfrnsk assessment It patent projection others who wanted a regulation that is seen as prodding also should-draw attention to those to market the product could do so no benefit). It often appears that, as chemicals needing further study-- without much trouble. But obtaining Edmund A. C. Crouch of Harvard those that are capable of causing rel the necessary worldwide patent pro University says more generally, "the atively large numbers of cancers. tection does not come cheap, Suter discussion of risks ... proceeds in Many symposium attendees did not notes Filing in 50 or 60,countries, he splendid isolation, usually with pro seem so sure, fearing, perhaps, that says/ is not unusuaKand fees for tagonists and antagonists ranged on publication of such estimates could keeping the patenyfn force over its two sides of an unbridgeable gulf, lead to a public perception that the lifetime can range from $1000 to quoting contradictory and alarming risks are greater than they actually $20,000 depending on the country. risk estimates at each other." are. Another industry that always opts At the Symposium on Assessing And the public's perception of risks Efor patents but does make some use of Health Risks from Chemicals, orga lays a key role in shaping the regu- trade secret protection is biotechnol nized jointly for the Kansas City ition of what are perceived to be ogy. Ppftecting proprietary rights in meeting by the divisions of Chemical hazardous technologies. Whereas an this area, says Walter Dreger of Health St Safety and Chemical In expert's perceptions of risk correlate Genentech, requires a departure from formation, Crouch noted that "the well with annual mortality, Paul the more traditional means of ob contradiction may be only apparent, Slovic of Decision Research pointed taining and retaining rights to intel the gulfbridgeable." In his own work, out that the public's do not. lectual property that has been fol he is attempting to bridge that gulf by Once a perception is established, lowed in the more classical industrial comparing the risks from nuclear Slovic warns, disagreement about setting. Primarily, this is because the power or chemicals with risks from risks should not be expected to industry's scientific talent is drawn everyday life, while at the same time evaporate in the presence ofevidence mainly from a limited pool of aca providing an indication of which because definitive evidence, particu demic researchers who come from a chemicals may need additional larly about rare hazards, is difficult to tradition of "publish or perish" and study. obtain. And weaker evidence is likely free sharing or research results. Crouch uses a linear model to esti to be interpreted in a way that rein What has resulted, Dreger says, is mate a chemical's hazard index forces existing beliefs. Although even that "we've decided to bend in the (number of cancers expected per well-informed lay people exhibit bi direction of the scientists." Early year) based on the substance's po ased perception, Slovic does not be leads in the development ofa project tency in test animals, a factor that lieve that the public should be re are treated as short-term trade se relates that potency to potency in moved from the risk assessment pro crets. "We follow that procedure rig humans, total industrial production, cess. Public' perception, he says, orously for the time it takes to devel the fraction of that production that is sometimes may be sensitive to im op the concepts of the project into a absorbed by humans, and a factor to portant factors overlooked by experts. patentable entity. " It works, he says, convert between units and to convert And even if experts generally are because "scientists are as competitive from lifetime risk to annual risk. much better judges of risks, public as lawyers. Their goal in life is to be However, in calculating the hazard participation offers the best hope'for first and when they have a lead that indexes presented at the meeting, creating the informed citizenry nec they think will give them a `first' upon Crouch considers only potency and essary for effective, long-term man completion ofa project, they can keep production and assumes further that agement of hazards, Oct. 4. 1982 CAEN 1$ AP00010825