Monsanto, Myriad: Two US Legal Cases Shaking Biotech Industries. The biotechnology industry has growing concerns over decisions to be taken this year by the United States Supreme Court in two cases involving the patenting of human genes and the exhaustion of patent rights in the context of easily reproducible products.
Several areas of biotechnology could be affected by unfavourable decisions, provoking legal uncertainty and discouraging innovation, industry representatives said in a recent telephone conference. In the meantime, civil society stands fast in opposition. On 14 February, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) organised a telephone conference to present “the broad-reaching impacts and implications of these two very different cases, each of which presents distinct questions of patent law that could affect the future of innovation in biotechnology.” The two cases are Bowman v. Monsanto Co, and Association for Molecular Pathology v. Bowman Case The first case involves Vernon Bowman, a 75-year old farmer from Indiana. Monsanto v. Bowman: Stocktaking After Supreme Court Hearings. The United States Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the case opposing a US farmer to agro-industry giant Monsanto on the issue of patent exhaustion in patented seeds.
Lead lawyers in the case and others offered comments on the heels of the hearing, while the Supreme Court Justices are considering the arguments and are expected to reach a decision sometime this spring. The case pitting US farmer Vernon Bowman against agro-industry giant Monsanto revolves around patent exhaustion. The question [pdf] that the US Supreme Court has to consider is, “Whether the Federal Circuit erred by (1) refusing to find patent exhaustion in patented seeds even after an authorized sale and by (2) creating an exception to the doctrine of patent exhaustion for self-replicating technologies?”
An audio recording and a transcript of the hearing is available on the Supreme Court website. The Vernon Hugh Bowman v. Industry Perspective, Monsanto Argument Patent Proponent Discusses Impact of Decision. US Supreme Court Applies First Sale Doctrine Worldwide. IP-Watch Summer Interns IP-Watch interns talk about their Geneva experience in summer 2013. 2:42.
Submit ideas to info [at] ip-watch [dot] ch! We welcome your participation in article and blog comment threads, and other discussion forums, where we encourage you to analyse and react to the content available on the Intellectual Property Watch website. By participating in discussions or reader forums, or by submitting opinion pieces or comments to articles, blogs, reviews or multimedia features, you are consenting to these rules. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Ten Questions About Internet Governance On April 23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the “Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance,” also known as “NETmundial” in an allusion to the global football event that will occur later in that country, will be convened.
For IPW Subscribers A directory of IP delegates in Geneva. A guide to Geneva-based public health and intellectual property organisations. Stop Treating Symptoms And Start Curing Diseases: The End Of Graduated Response. IP-Watch Summer Interns IP-Watch interns talk about their Geneva experience in summer 2013. 2:42.
Submit ideas to info [at] ip-watch [dot] ch! We welcome your participation in article and blog comment threads, and other discussion forums, where we encourage you to analyse and react to the content available on the Intellectual Property Watch website. By participating in discussions or reader forums, or by submitting opinion pieces or comments to articles, blogs, reviews or multimedia features, you are consenting to these rules. OECD Report Shows Rise Of Internet Services. IP-Watch Summer Interns IP-Watch interns talk about their Geneva experience in summer 2013. 2:42.
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UNCTAD Figures Show Record World Trade In Creative Goods. Submit ideas to info [at] ip-watch [dot] ch!
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