Gene Patents: How Useful Are the New Utility Requirements
![handle is hein.journals/tjeflr23 and id is 341 raw text is: GENE PATENTS: HOW USEFUL ARE THE
NEW UTILITY REQUIREMENTS?
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't, ah fie, fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely.'
I. INTRODUCTION
Heralded as a scientific breakthrough of epic proportions,
the announcement that a draft of the entire human genome had
been completed was met with unreserved optimism, and even led
to a temporary biotechnology investment frenzy on Wall Street.2
Yet, disregarding the obvious achievement in successfully con-
cluding this momentous undertaking, most, if not all, of the rele-
vant information contained in the human genome has in fact
been present in private databases for several years. As a result
of focusing sequencing efforts solely on those genes that are actu-
ally expressed in a human cell, corporations such as Incyte
Pharmaceuticals, Genset and Human Genome Sciences (HGS)
have assembled vast collections of sequences of expressed genes,
and additional information on where and when any given gene is
activated or silenced.3 The functions of the individual genes con-
tained in such a database can, by and large, be predicted based
on sequence similarities to genes with already known functions.4
Therefore, access to this type of genomic data alleviates the need
for cumbersome experimental procedures, as most genes are al-
ready cloned, their sequences determined, and their putative
functions in most cases have been determined.'
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have in-
vested large sums of money and initiated extensive collabora-
tions to gain access to the information solely found in proprietary
1. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET, PRINcE OF DENMARK,
act 1, sc. 2.
2. See Pamela Sherrid, A Cure For The Biotech Blues. Patients - And Wall Street
- Get Ready For The Next New Thing In Drugs, 128 U.S. NEws AND WoRLD RE-
PORT 42 (2000).
3. See Jon Cohen, How Many Genes Are There?, 275 SCIENCE 769 (1997).
4. See William M. Gelbart, Databases In Genomic Research, 282 SCIENCE 659
(1998).
5. For instance, Genset's Chief Genomics Officer Daniel Cohen has stated the
company's strength as [v]e discover pathways with minimal benchwork. See 275
SCIENCE 774 (1997).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/tjeflr23&div=24&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Gene Patents: How Useful Are the New Utility Requirements
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