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Politicizing Patents - Patenting Biotechnology In The Wake Of Section 33, Prometheus, And Cls Bank, Jonathan R. K. Stroud
Politicizing Patents - Patenting Biotechnology In The Wake Of Section 33, Prometheus, And Cls Bank, Jonathan R. K. Stroud
Jonathan R. K. Stroud
Tucked into the America Invents Act is the first statutory exemption for any patentable subject matter. Section 33 renders unpatentable all claims “encompassing a human being.” By recognizing a vague subject matter – exception for human beings despite the fact that internal policies had long militated against such patent claims, Congress has politicized the patent law to an unheard-of degree. While textually consistent with internal USPTO policy, the passage of § 33 should not be seen as an invitation to litigators to expand § 101 unpatentable-subject-matter challenges to validity by including arguments that medical methods, genetic tests, biological chimeras, or …