Word: patent
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
From the Cambridge City Council to Capitol Hill, last week's decision by the U.S. Patent Office to grant a Harvard Medical School professor the world's first patent for animals has brought legislators face-to-face with the ethical dilemmas created by the rapidly expanding field of biotechnology...
...patent office last week granted exclusive marketing rights to Harvard for a genetically altered strain of mice designed by Andrus Professor of Genetics Philip Leder '56. Although the new breed of mice was created for cancer research, the patent office's decision has come under attack by some members of Congress, who charge it has preempted congressional debate on the ethics of patenting animals...
Moreover, the Cambridge City Council, with the support of Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci, is scheduled to debate a resolution Monday night condemning the patent office for its action and endorsing the House legislation. The resolution calls on Congress to "create strong regulatory mechanisms which would ensure that the public good is served by the introduction of a specific new animal" before such patents are granted...
However, in a letter sent to Congress on Monday, U.S. Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Donald J. Quigg defended his office's decision to grant the mouse patent and denounced Congressional interference in the matter...
Congressional aides say that, although the House bill is still pending in subcommittee and is not likely to come to the floor for at least a month, the highly publicized mouse patent has focused congressional concern on the patenting of animals, which legislators previously had given low priority...