PHG Foundation | Legal status of US gene patents in turmoil

Legal status of US gene patents in turmoil
Report of a story in the news | By Dr Philippa Brice | Published 5 November 2010

Sources: New York Times, Wall Street Journal

The US federal government has said that patents should not be granted for genomic DNA (human or otherwise), on the basis that it is a product of nature, even when isolated from the body.

The ground-breaking assertion reverses the previous situation whereby government bodies (along with everyone else) actively filed DNA patents wherever possible. It forms part of an amicus brief responding to the ongoing legal battle over US patents for the BRCA 1 and BRCA2 genes (see previous news), in which the US Justice Department supports the patentability of modified but not merely isolated DNA sequences. However, the US Patent and Trademark Office said it will be continuing to consider applications for gene-related patents as before.
Comment:

Critics fear that restricting the scope of gene patents will have a detrimental effect on biomedical development by limiting potential financial returns on investment in research. Others contend this is unlikely because the manipulation of genes (for example, to create novel gene therapies or biosynthetic organisms) would still be patentable. Commercial incentives for some applications such as diagnostic testing would certainly be restricted – many would argue, appropriately – to the precise testing method, and not to the DNA being analysed.
PHG Foundation | Legal status of US gene patents in turmoil