Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Patent Law Blogs -> Patent Docs

Patent Law

: Patent Docs

BIO Celebrates Anniversary of Chakrabarty Decision

By Donald Zuhn, Kevin Noonan, Chris Singer, Sherri Oslick, and Jason Derry

By Donald Zuhn -- In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) recalled the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Diamond v. Chakrabarty, which was issued thirty years ago on June 16, 1980. In Chakrabarty, the Court determined (by a 5-4 vote) that a genetically engineered Pseudomonas bacterium capable of breaking down multiple components of crude oil "plainly qualifies" as patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (at right, Dr. Ananda Chakrabarty). Citing the Senate and House Committee Reports that accompanied the 1952 Patent Act, the Court explained that "Congress intended statutory subject matter to 'include...

Full post as published by Patent Docs on June 18, 2010 (boomark / email).