19 currently under consideration which would require each member state 
to establish its own administrative mechanism to ensure that all recom- 
binant DNA research is subject to national guidelines. 
The application of safety standards to the private sector raises policy 
questions concerning the international protection of proprietary informa- 
tion and patent rights. At a meeting convened in Strasbourg in March 
1977 under the auspices of ESF, the problem of disclosure of information 
was reviewed as it relates to the operations of the various national com- 
mittees of the member countries. The discussion centered on balancing 
the need for disclosure of information in research protocols among nations 
(in order to implement uniform safety practices) with the need to protect 
proprietary information and patent rights. A9 a result, a meeting of 
European patent experts was convened in June for the purpose of studying 
the complex issues of proprietary rights and patent laws. 
Another organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization 
(WIPO), has drafted a treaty and regulations pertaining to the interna- 
tional recognition of the deposit of microorganisms for purposes of patent 
procedures. (See summary of the treaty, Appendix IX.) WIPO is an inde- 
pendent organization, funded through grants and contracts from a number 
of private and public entities, which has members of various scientific 
societies on its board of directors. A final treaty is under negotiation 
and would presumably speak to 9ome of the needs that have arisen in 
the context of recombinant DNA inventions. 
As previously mentioned, COGENE (of the International Council of 
Scientific Unions) is seeking financial support to convene a meeting of 
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