Patenting Biotechnology Process Inventions: A new law should make biotechnology process patents easier to obtain--and defend

摘要

On November 1, 1995, President Clinton signed into law the Biotechnology Process Patent Act. This new law was enacted to overturn a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's (CAFC's) 1985 decision known as In re Durden1 For over a decade, Durden has made it virtually impossible to obtain patents on--and thereby protect--biotechnology-related process inventions. This article briefly summarizes impact of Durden and how the new law may affect the patentability of biotechnology process rnventions.