A biological patent is a patent relating to an invention or discovery in biology. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which... An invention an object, patent, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. ... Biology (from Greek βίος λόγος, see below) is the study of life. ...

Some types of biological patents are considered controversial by those who feel that natural occurences are not invented and thus should not be patentable. This is especially true if the biological matter being patented can be found in humans, such as sequences of DNA. Advocates who speak against biological patents suggest that the techniques and processes associated with the discovery could be patentable but not the actual biological matter itself. For example, an advocate against biological patents would suggest that a gene associated with cancer should not be patented, but the test used to detect the gene could be. Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable if it meets the relevant legal conditions to be granted a patent. ... Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living things. ... This stylistic schematic diagram shows a gene in relation to the double helix structure of DNA and to a chromosome (right). ... Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these cells to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis. ...

On the other end of the spectrum many scientists/researchers are against patenting biological information if it comes at the cost of research. Many scientists are coming up against patent thickets, which are masses of information that they must obtain permission (and often pay large fees to utilize) before they can ever work with the information. ^{[citation needed]}

Whether or not patents can be validly obtained for certain parts of the DNA of an organism depends on the patent law. Modern patent law is becoming stricter about what sort of biological information can be patented. Prior to tightening, companies and organizations like the University of California were patenting whole genomes.^[1] Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living things. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally maximum 20 years from the filing date, depending on extension). ... The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. ... In biology the genome of an organism is the whole hereditary information of an organism that is encoded in the DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA). ...

References

See also

• American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)
• Biopiracy
• Budapest Treaty
• Diamond v. Chakrabarty was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with whether genetically modified micro-organisms can be patented.
• Gene patents
• Human Genome Project
• John Moore (human patent)

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which... Business method patents are a class of patents and one of many legal aspects of business. ... A chemical patent is an important source of technical and bibliographic information. ... weener ... One possible definition of a Software patent, supported by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), is that it is a patent on any performance of a computer realised by means of a computer program. ... American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) is a private, not-for-profit biological resource center whose mission focuses on the acquisition, authentication, production, preservation, development and distribution of standard reference microorganisms, cell lines and other materials for research in the life sciences. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Bioprospecting. ... The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, or Budapest Treaty, is an international treaty signed in Budapest, Hungary, on April 28, 1977. ... Diamond v. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which... // Introduction Gene patents are patents on specific sequences of genes. ... The Human Genome Project (HGP) is a project to the 3 billion nucleotides contained in the human genome and to identify all the genes present in it. ... A man named John Moore underwent treatment for cancer of the spleen at the University of California, Los Angeles hospital when he was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia after he was told that local hospitals were unable to treat him. ...

External links

• Biotechnology on the WIPO web site

• Biotechnology Patent Sequence Listings