To the Editor:
As the inventor of the Kauffman/Ballivet patent, I read with interest your recent commentary (Nature Biotechnol. 17, 2, 1999). I believe I can contribute two important additional pieces of information.
First, the commentary presents a brief chronicle of scientific literature pertinent to the Kauffman/Ballivet patent. The date of filing of the patent is critical in order to evaluate this literature in the context of prior art. The Kauffman/Ballivet patent series claims priority from early 1985.
Second, the final sentence of the piece expresses the hope that the price of licensing the Kauffman/Ballivet patent will not be too high. In fact, we intend to make the patent available on a nonexclusive basis to anyone who needs it. To this end, it is interesting that reference is made in your piece to the Cohen and Boyer patent. We have developed a licensing program in consultation with Niels Reimber who devised the licensing program for the Cohen and Boyer patent.
I hope this information is useful.
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Kauffman, M.D., S. Patent amplification. Nat Biotechnol 17, 408 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/8533
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/8533