The Tribune’s assertion that the patent system is allowing people to own information “basic to life itself” is misleading (Editorial, Mar. 20).
Under current patent laws in the U.S. and around the world, no one can patent anything in a form that exists in nature. That system is designed to ensure that people share information, specifically inventions that may be variations of things that exist in nature or variations of previous inventions, by awarding an appropriate benefit–proprietary rights–to patent holders.
Isolated genes and gene fragments–the things actually at issue–fit into that category because they do not exist in nature in and of themselves. The existence of patent rights allows others to access new developments in industries from biotech to textiles and build upon the disclosed information to benefit all of us.
The alternative is that everyone keeps his or her inventions secret, for fear of giving up competitive advantage.
Discovering advancements in medicine is a business. Without the protection of patents, research companies and universities would not invest millions of dollars for medical breakthroughs.
Patent law protects these medical advancements by granting proprietary rights, thereby providing the security investors need when making decisions about where to allocate their funds.
The U.S. government itself protects inventions, developed with tax dollars, through use of the patent laws. For example, the National Institutes of Health conducts groundbreaking research, and because of its patents, provides research companies with the opportunity to pick up those inventions and “run with them.” The U.S. government receives royalty payments on those patented inventions that can be considered a return on the collective taxpayer investment.
The discussion about patenting human genes has been underway for years, without significant congressional intervention. The Patent Office already has regulations and continues to update them to ensure that only proper inventions get patents and are awarded to proper inventors.
To now change the patent laws in this regard, by excluding wholesale categories of inventions from possible patent protection, would discourage the funding necessary to bring many inventions to market and stymie further research.
