[Upd-discuss] RAFI: gene patent mania

[lucas@humanism.org]

Since there had been some discussion on the issue I thought this
exerpt form the latest rafi.org press release might be interesting:

   Patent Mania: The number of patents issued or being applied for by
   genomics companies is mind-boggling. Over 2,000 patents on
   full-length genes have already been granted by the U.S.  Patent and
   Trademark Office (USPTO). But the number of patent applications
   runs into the millions.(4) The USPTO confesses that they have no
   idea how many patents applications are pending on expressed
   sequence tags (EST's) - which are "signatures" or parts specific to
   each gene - since they "quit tracking them" about four years ago,
   at which time they had about half a million.(5) In the past 200
   years, the USPTO has processed six million patent applications.
   Based on company disclosures, there are currently over three
   million patent applications on ESTs alone. Since the date of
   application determines who owns a patent, the race to get in these
   applications has been intense. Though only a small proportion of
   the patents have actually issued, the patent "gene grab" is almost
   over.

   4. Garber, K., "Homestead 2000: The Genome" Signals Magazine,
      03/03/2000, pg. 2.  
   5.  Ibid, pg. 3.