Publisher's Synopsis
In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled that a living micro organism could be patented. Subsequently the US Patent and Trademark Office held that certain type of plant and animal life constituted patentable subject matter.;This special report by the OTA reviews US patent law as it relates to the patentability of microorganisms, cells, plants and animals, as well as specific areas of concern including deposit requirements and international considerations.;One inherent difficulty in examining the patenting of living organisms is determining which are novel and directly related to patent issues as opposed to those questions that would exist independently of patent considerations (eg. environmental aspects, the welfare of the animal, the morality of such work etc.). Thus the primary focus of this report is on subject matter patentability - what can and cannot be pattented, as enacted by Congress under the patent statute and interpreted by the courts.
