Law Commons^™

Patent First, Ask Questions Later: Morality And Biotechnology In Patent Law, Margo A. Bagley

William & Mary Law Review

This Article explores the U.S. "patent first, ask questions later" approach to determining what subject matter should receive patent protection. Under this approach, the US. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or the Agency) issues patents on "anything under the sun made by man," and to the extent a patent's subject matter is sufficiently controversial, Congress acts retrospectively in assessing whether patents should issue on such inventions. This practice has important ramifications for morally controversial biotechnology patents specifically, and for American society generally. For many years ajudicially created "moral utility" doctrine served as a type of gatekeeper of patent subject matter …