Slashdot Mirror
Biotech Genome Patents Invalidated?
bruthasj writes "The Boston Globe has a piece about all the Biotechs grabbing patents that dealt with segments of the Human Genome. It appears there are work arounds and that the USPTO basically disregards further patents on the genome. As one quoted: ''The land grab is over''. Read about it here."
''In the early days, a company could say, in effect, that if you accumulated enough of the gene, you could fill a vessel with it and use it as a paperweight - there was the utility,'' said Bruce Sunstein, a partner at Bromberg & Sunstein LLP in Boston, only partly in jest.
Ironically, this is an argument that cannot be used to defend a software patent.
Surely ACGT is four bases, hence base 4. Base 2 is binary, your basic 0 and 1.
Of course you could encode two bits of binary information to create a base four digit.
BTW, I am prepared to consider that I have dropped though a hole in the space-time fabric into a parallel universe with differing number theory (I have been playing with chroniton particles and theta-band radiation today)
Remember kids, 1 + 1 = -17 (On a complex plane)
If nature abhors a vacuum, why isn't there more dust in the world?
Enjoy your last breath as I release the hounds(lawyers).
Doesn't anyone else think patenting genes is a little bit too much like this for comfort?
Who said satire was dead? Woo-hoo!
I had a dream, bright and carefree, but now there's doubt and gravity
At least his bible belt texan redneck outlook means there is no danger of Bush being cloned. thank f*&k for that!!!!
OrionRobots.co.uk - Robots From sol
Doesn't decoding the human genome violate the DMCA anyway?
I mean: god obviously made it very hard to read the code (and didn't post the sources anywhere). So, surely, circumventing His copy protection must be illegal?
Patents on the human genome , doesn't this affect
us all in a very personal way ?
Biotech : "Excuse me sir , we have a problem"
Person : "Yes , exactly what is that"
Biotech : "You need to give us $100,000 for a
license"
Person : "Or what ? "
Biotech : "Or we are going to remove the part of"
"Your genome that lets you're body
Process food"
Person : "I don't have $100,000"
One week later
Person : "Gurgle gurgle gurgle" and promptly dies
So, did God finally come down hard on the USPTO and yell "Prior Art!"?
must change my nick...
Yeah, you just wait until that God(TM). guy sends you a cease and desist letter...
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"