[MPWG] Fwd: Science News in Depth

[De Angelis, Patricia]

A recent Science article (below) describes latest guidance from the U.S.
patent office regarding patents on nature and mentions a public comment
period that is open until March.  I was unable to locate the actual notice
for public comment on the USPTO website; if anyone else knows where to find
it, please share it with the list.

Intellectual Property Rights are important when it comes to medicinal
plants. US law does not currently allow patents to be taken directly on
natural compounds that are readily found in nature (and this new guidance
does not change that). Rather, patents are allowed on the processes used to
arrive at those compounds, though the natural compound is generally the
ultimate "target."

So the questions that arise concern the balance between traditional
healthcare knowledge and drug discovery (which often relies on traditional
knowledge to zero in on compounds). Should individuals, researchers, or
companies claim patent rights to natural plant compounds that are part of
traditional knowledge systems handed down over the centuries? How do we
ensure that a patent does not infringe on people's ability to continue
using these plants for medicine?

Intellectual Property
*U.S. patent office reworks unpopular policy
<http://app.aaas-science.org/e/er?utm_source=eloqua&s=1906&lid=54385&elq=6a9ac465573c4909b71ba969cfdb0de0>*
Kelly Servick

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is again changing how it
evaluates inventions derived from nature. Recent Supreme Court decisions,
including a 2013 ruling that struck down patents on human genes, forced
USPTO to tighten its rules about what is eligible for patent protection.
But the agency drew fire with its first attempt to set a new standard this
past March, which raised the eligibility bar for many biotech products.
Critics warned that they would chill investment and render new therapies
and diagnostics unpatentable. USPTO is now seeking feedback on a revised
set of guidelines, which many of those critics see as an improvement,
though it's not yet clear how they will be implemented.
Full Science article:
http://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/09_january_2015?folio=113#pg13
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