77. The representative of Japan said that although disclosure of origin of genetic resources was one of the issues being discussed, the discussions should not be limited only to that issue under these agenda items. It was the view of his delegation that the checklist approach in document IP/C/W/420 was not the best because the scope of the list was not broad enough to cover all concerns. The most appropriate forum to deal with the issues was the IGC of WIPO. Under the patent system, there were reasons why disclosure was necessary in patent applications, either as a formal or substantive requirement, as these were directly related to evaluate the patentability of invention or useful for prior art searches in the course of examination. He said that information not related to the grant of patents was not required to be disclosed. His delegation saw no reason why disclosure of origin of genetic resources was necessary in a patent application for the grant of a patent. Even without such disclosure, examiners could examine an application to determine patentability. He said that his delegation shared many of the views put forward by the United States and supported the proposal by Canada to have an in-depth diagnostic approach.
