Ewe Cannot Patent Clones, Court Tells Dolly Researchers

Cloned animals like Dolly the sheep cannot be patented, though the research institution that created her can receive patents for the methods used to create them, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) decided yesterday.

CAFC upheld a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that affirmed the rejection of six claims in a patent application for Dolly by The Roslin Institute. The appellate court that specializes in hearing patent cases agreed with the board in upholding a patent examiner’s decision that the claims covered subject matter that is unpatentable under Section 101 of Title 35 of the U.S. Code (35 U.S.C. § 101) – and that Dolly was an anticipated and obvious discovery under Sections 102 and 103 of the same Code.

Read more.