Guidelines reject criticism of policy on gene patenting

11 January 2001

Nature 409, 126 - 127 (2001) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

URL: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v409/n6817/full/409126a0_fs.html

Date accessed: 15 January 2001

[WASHINGTON] The US Patent and Trademark Office has released new guidelines on the patenting of genes and gene sequences that will clarify its handling of applications.

The new guidelines are broadly similar to an interim version that was released for comment in December 1999 (Nature 403, 3; 2000). In particular, they accept that gene patents lie within the current laws governing what can be patented, and reject broad criticism of the current gene-patenting policy.

However, the final version of the guidelines provides greater clarification of the circumstances in which a claim for the usefulness — or 'utility' — of a newly discovered gene sequence can be based on its similarity to a previously known sequence of known function.

This issue had proved one of the most contentious elements of the proposed revisions, with a range of organizations, including the National Institutes of Health and the medical colleges, arguing that the original guidelines were too loose to establish genuine inventiveness.

The new guidelines are intended to cover areas of emerging technologies "where uses for new materials that have not been fully characterized are not readily apparent".

http://www.uspto.gov

Categories: 2. Patent Law, 6. Policies