Biological patents are inventions done in the biology field by scientists and permitted by law to exclude people from copying, using, selling, and importing the secured invention for a given period. It depends on the jurisdiction whether biological patents cover genetically engineered organisms, gene products, or biological technologies and products. The genes of many different life forms, including plants, animals, and parts of human DNA, have been the subject of patents for many years. Researchers in federal agencies, universities and businesses often possess gene patents; they frequently get patents to safeguard their financial research investments. As with any patent, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office permits the protection of genes as intellectual property to promote research and innovation. Gene patents have spread, but essential concerns remain unresolved, such as whether they foster innovation the same way conventional patents do, what impact they will have on society and the living things whose genes are patented.
Social Value Related to Biological Patents/Copyrights
Genetic patents are commonly cited as the primary driver of innovation in research and development (R&D). Companies in the biotechnology industry claim that patents, in particular, enable them to carry out creative research by ensuring market control and royalties to the business, which lowers the total risk of devoting time and money to expensive research. Researchers may examine how cancer affects animals and create cancer therapies using oncomouse. The patent, however, has repeatedly been rejected in Europe and Canada because denying other academics access to such a potent research tool will limit necessary research in cancer treatment. In the United States, only Harvard stands to gain from this patent, which, like so many others, threatens to stifle scientific progress by barring researchers’ use of second-generation mice.