Biopatent

Patent granted for biological entities and derived products.
Monopoly granted by a government to a person who has either-Invented a new and useful article.
Made an improvement to an existing article.
Invented a new process for developing an article.
Prevents commercial use of products by other persons.
Criteria are novelty, inventiveness, utility and reproductivity.
Rights are granted to make, use, sell, export and licence the product.
Granted for only fixed duration (usually 20 years), after which it goes into the public domain.
Industrialised countries like U.S.A, Japan and E.U. are awarding Biopatents.

Biopatents are awarded for the following:

• Strains of microrganisms. Cell-lines.
• Genetically modified strains of plants and animals.
• DNA sequences.
• Proteins encoded by DNA sequences.
• Various biotechnological procedures.
• Production processes and products.

Product applications.

Patenting of life forms has been opposed by various social groups with objections being ethical and political. However arguments in favour are of increased economical growth.
In 1971, GE and its employee, Anand Mohan Chakravarty, applied for patenting genetically engineered Pseudomonas.
In 1992, an American firm patented genetically engineered cotton and soya plants. Farmers have to pay royalty for sowing these crops. These patents are challenged by international community.
The US National Institute of Health tried to patent human genome in 1991 but with protest withdrew their application. Human Breast Cancer Gene(BRCA1) was patented in US after its base sequence was determined. Attempts are on to patent the second breast cancer gene (BRCA2).