Patient advocacy group collaboration in genetic research and the scope of joint inventorship under US patent law

摘要

Patent systems have traditionally operated to reward scientific innovation and discovery rather than the level and type of contribution of raw materials and other support. In recently naming a non-scientist patient advocate as a co-inventor on a patent claiming method for diagnosing a disease-causing genetic mutation, the USPTO has recently determined that collaboration with researchers in providing banked genetic samples and participating in the laboratory rises to the level of inventorship. This article examines broad questions of ownership in genetic material, patient advocacy efforts in collaborative research and the traditional distinction in the patent realm between ownership and inventorship.