Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Patents
  • Published:

Mandating race: how the USPTO is forcing race into biotech patents

Nature Biotechnology volume 29, pages 401–403 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

A recent review of select patent prosecutions before the United States Patent and Trademark Office indicates a troubling dynamic at work.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Kahn, J. Nat. Biotechnol. 24, 1349–1352 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Biotechnology/Chemical/Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership Meeting, Alexandria, Virginia, December 3, 2008. <http://www.cabic.com/bcp/>

  3. 35 USC §112.

  4. Aquino, J. Life Sci. Law Industry Rep. 3, 96 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Institute of Medicine. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2003).

  6. Anonymous. Nat. Gen. 29, 239 (2001).

  7. Bugawan, T. and Erlich, H. US patent application 20040126794 (2004).

  8. Ex parte Jianfeng Xu, Deborah Meyers, Sigun Zheng, Patrick C. Walsh, William B. Isaacs, Eugene Bleecker, and David Herrington. 2009 WL 819042 (Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 2009), 3.

  9. Lenz, H.J. and Stoehlmacher, J. US Patent Application No. 20020039733 (2003).

  10. Ex parte Jennifer Jones McIntire, Rosemarie Dekruyff, Dale T. Umetsu, and Gordon Freeman. 2010 WL 2505311 (Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 2010), 8.

  11. Lenz, H.J. and Stoehlmacher, J. US Patent No. 6,716,581 (2004).

  12. Lenz, H.J. and Stoehlmacher, J. US Patent Application No. 20020039733 (2003).

  13. US Patent no. 6,716,581, P.A.I.R. Docket no. 13761-7001/App. Control no. 09/824,629. Carla Myers. [Final Action] Office Action Responsive to Communication Filed on September 16, 2002. November 20, 2002, 3.

  14. US Patent no. 6,716,581, P.A.I.R. Docket no. 13761-7001/App. Control no. 09/824,629. Carla Myers. [Final Action] Office Action Responsive to Communication Filed on September 16, 2002. November 20, 2002, 5.

  15. See, e.g., Genentech, Inc. v. Novo Nordisk, A/S, 108 F.3d 1361 (Fed. Cir. 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Collins, F. Nat. Gen. 36, S13–S15 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. See, e.g., American Anthropological Association. Statement on Race (1998), <http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm>

  18. US Patent no. 6,716,581, P.A.I.R. Docket no. 13761-7001/App. Control no. 09/824,629. David Maher. Amendment and Response Under 37 C.F.R. s. 1.111. September 16, 2002.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jonathan Kahn is at Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.,

    Jonathan Kahn

Authors
  1. Jonathan Kahn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan Kahn.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kahn, J. Mandating race: how the USPTO is forcing race into biotech patents. Nat Biotechnol 29, 401–403 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1864

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1864

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research