The Feds have finally taken the proper stand on this issue in a "friend of the court" brief...
NYTimes
U.S. Says Genes Should Not Be Eligible for Patents
By ANDREW POLLACK
Published: October 29, 2010
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Reversing a longstanding policy, the federal government said on Friday that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature. The new position could have a huge impact on medicine and on the biotechnology industry
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We acknowledge that this conclusion is contrary to the longstanding practice of the Patent and Trademark Office, as well as the practice of the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies that have in the past sought and obtained patents for isolated genomic DNA,” the brief said.
It is not clear if the position in the legal brief, which appears to have been the result of discussions among various government agencies, will be put into effect by the Patent Office.
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