NIH's gene patent applications

Executive Summary

National Institutes of Health expect the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to issue a decision on NIH's cDNA patent applications by the end of the summer, NIH Office of Technology Transfer Director Reid Adler states in an article in the Aug. 14 issue of Science. Adler says the PTO's initial decision "undoubtedly will argue that the claimed cDNA sequences are unpatentable but will provide minimal policy guidance." NIH has filed applications covering more than 2,700 gene sequences that may be mapped in the human genome project ("The Pink Sheet" April 6, p. 14).