- The Resurrection of the Duty to Inquire After Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co.
By: Brandee N. Woolard
Balancing a duty to a tribunal and a duty to a client can paralyze a lawyer. The task raises difficult questions about how to reconcile competing obligations as an advocate and as an officer of the court. Individuals licensed to prosecute patent applications must decide how to honor both their obligations to ...
- Carbons Into Bytes: Patented Chemical Compound Protection in the Virtual World
By: B. Thomas Watson
“Virtual” molecular compounds, created in molecular modeling software, are increasingly useful in the process of rational drug design. When a physical compound is patented, however, virtual use of the compound allows researchers to circumvent the protection granted to the patentee. To acquire protection from unauthorized use of compounds in their virtual form, ...
- In Ambiguous Battle: The Promise (And Pathos) of Public Domain Day, 2014
By: Jennifer Jenkins
On the first day of each year, Public Domain Day celebrates the moment when copyrights expire, and books, films, songs, and other creative works enter the public domain, where they become, in Justice Brandeis’s words, “free as the air to common use.” Educators, students, artists, and fans can use them with neither permission ...
- After Prometheus, Are Human Genes Patentable Subject Matter?
By: Douglas L. Rogers
On April 15, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. on the question, “Are human genes patentable?” This article argues that human genes are not patentable and that isolating a gene from its surroundings in a human body—or creating synthetically what exists ...
- Lack of Transparency in the Premarket Approval Process for Aquadvantage Salmon
By: Michael P. McEvilly
After a lengthy premarket approval process, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is soon likely to deem AquAdvantage Salmon, a fast-growing, genetically engineered salmon, safe for human consumption. If approved, AquAdvantage Salmon will be the first genetically engineered animal designed for human consumption to go to market in the United States. ...
