Cereal gene bank accepts need for patents…

Gene patents: the need for bioethics scrutiny and legal change.

Human gene patents.

The concept of a patent on a human gene seems foreign to most people. Even those who understand the fundamentals of the patent system seem bewildered and confused by many issues relating to human genes. This article describes the scope and limitations of gene patents and the types of exemptions that have been proposed or allowed. It addresses and clarifies these and other issues, including the ...

Raising the bar for gene patents

working draft of the human genome sequence, attention is turning once again to the controversial issue of gene patenting. In response to mounting criticism about the ease with which some groups have been able to apply for and receive patents on poorly characterized human gene sequences, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently released new guidelines that will affect the outcome ...

Software Patents after CLS Bank: US – China Comparison

The Software Freedom Law Center said that, in its opinion in CLS Bank v. Alice,1the Supreme Court “took one more step towards the abolition of patents on software inventions. Upholding its previous positions, the Court held that abstract ideas and algorithms are unpatentable. It also emphasized that one cannot patent ‘an instruction to apply [an] abstract idea . . . using some un-specified, gen...

New thinking on gene patents

With the number of patent claims including DNA sequence booming, is there a way forward to help resolve disagreements over the many issues involved? One ethical body believes that there is and has produced a new study.