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."

Comments

Leaps and Grounds

[PaladinAlpha]

This brings up again the interesting debate on whether information can be copyrighted by the one whom merely discovered the information, regardless of the fact that the information existed to begin with. Personally, I feel that human DNA is rather obviously public domain...otherwise one is forced to consider the ludicrous situation of one being forbidden to sequence one's own DNA, lest a copyrighted segment result. This is akin to being forbidden to read a CD because the code contained therin is copyright.

Re:do they even check?

[umofomia]

does the patent office even check if the submissals actually exist/work whatever as claimed?

or do they just pay 10,000 monkeys to read through it then rubber stamp it?

More like the latter... according to this Scientific American article, designs for perpetual motion machines make it through all the time.

Re:Talk about double jeapordy...

[valisk]

Sorry to disagree but this is not capitalism, this is Corporate Mercantilism.
Capitalism is free trade, in every way no barriers no 'protected' marketplaces, what we see today is the rhetoric of the free market combined with protectionist legislation.
These government built barriers such as Patents and Copyrights are a hang over from the days of Mercantilism and have been enhanced and extended at the request of the corporations until we have what have here today, a system of byzantine complexity which encourages and rewards those who obscure and lie and more importantly already have lots of money to buy the next set of laws.
By the way in most countries Corporations do charge you for having cancer, they are the ones providing your care and drugs, even in the UK under the National Health service, the 'Back' office is increasingly run by private corporations.