Science and Technology Law Commons^™

The Mouse That Trolled: The Long And Tortuous History Of A Gene Mutation Patent That Became An Expensive Impediment To Alzheimer's Research, Tania Bubela, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Robert Cook-Deegan

Faculty Scholarship

This case study presents the tale of the academic discovery of a rare mutation for early-onset Alzheimer's disease that was patented by a sole inventor and licensed to a non-practicing entity (NPE), the Alzheimer's Institute of America (AIA). Our aims are (1) to relate this story about patents, research tools, and impediments to medical progress, and (2) to inform ongoing debates about how patents affect research, disposition of university inventions, and the distribution of benefits from publicly funded research. We present an account of the hunt for Alzheimer's genes, their patenting, assignment, and enforcement based on literature, litigation records and …