PTO gene patent hearing set for Nov. 29 and Dec. 7: issues include whether to patent, how to review.
Executive Summary
PTO PUBLIC HEARINGS ON GENE SEQUENCE PATENT APPLICATIONS and the Human Genome Initiative will be held Nov. 29 at the University of California-San Diego and Dec. 7 in Arlington, Va. The Human Genome Initiative has raised the question of whether expressed nucleic acid sequences in the genome should be patentable. Policies must be established to "address these challenges," PTO said in a Nov. 14 Federal Register notice. Written comments should be directed to the Assistant Commissioner for Patents, Box DAC, Washington, D.C. 20231, marked to the attention of Esther Kepplinger, before Dec. 18.