Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

SCOTUS To Hear Patentable Thought Case

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the get-out-of-my-head dept.

skayell writes "The Supreme Court of the United States will hear a landmark patent case involving whether or not thoughts and relationships are patentable. Michael Crichton's essay in the New York Times attempts a thoughtful summary of Metabolite's primary assertion: they not only own the connection between homocysteine levels in the blood and vitamin B12 deficiency, but also any thought connecting the two."

2 of 394 comments (clear)

  1. Everything should be patented by Nick+Gisburne · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let's just have patents on EVERYTHING, every gene, every molecule, every action you could ever think of. Then in 17 years (or whatever the time limit is) when they expire, we can forget all this patent bullshit and just get on with life again. I'd be willing to wait those 17 years if the patent system would just expire.

    --
    Watch my YouTube atheist video blog (user NickGisburne2000) for arguments against religion
  2. Re:Possible angle of attack by tengwar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A more elegant solution: if you hold the patent on the diabetes gene, you should be held responsible for all cases of diabetes, treated or not.