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75 J. Pat. & Trademark Off. Soc'y 440 (1993)
Protection of BIotechnology under Mexico's Industrial Property Law: Can El Ranton de Harvard Speak Spanish

handle is hein.journals/jpatos75 and id is 454 raw text is: Protection of Biotechnology Under Mexico's Industrial Property Law: Can El Raton de Harvard Speak Spanish?* Richard J. Smith** INTRODUCTION T he patenting of transgenic organisms' is one of the most inter- esting and controversial topics in the growing international bio- technology industry.2 This controversy was fueled by the issuance of the first U.S. patent covering a transgenic animal, entitled Transgenic Non-Human Mammals, commonly referred to as the Harvard Mouse.3 Using the Harvard Mouse patent as a backdrop, this article will review the current state of biotechnology patent protection in Mexico. The article also offers a comparison to U.S. patent laws and concludes with an analysis of the implications of the respective patent laws on biotechnology trade with Mexico. II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Under Mexico's former Law of Inventions and Trademarks (LIM), certain inventions were expressly excluded from patenta- *© Copyright 1993 Richard J. Smith. All rights reserved ** Richard J. Smith is a shareholder in the firm of Matthews & Branscomb, P.C. and an Adjunct Professor of Biotechnology Law at St. Mary's University Law School. 1 A transgenic organism is an organism formed by the insertion of foreign genetic material into the germ line cells of organisms. Recombinant DNA techniques are commonly used to produce transgenic organisms. Industrial Biotechnology Ass'n, Biotechnology at Work, Glossary of Terms (Aug. 1992). 2 Total revenue of the U.S. biotech industry for the 12-month period ended June 30, 1992 is estimated at $8.1 billion. Wall St. J., Sept. 23, 1992 3 U.S. Patent No. 4,736,866 issued April 12, 1988. The patent was assigned to the President and Fellows of Harvard College, hence the popular title Harvard Mouse. Claim 12 recites The mammal of claim 11, said rodent being a mouse.

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