Obtaining Patent Protection for the Treatment of Disease with Genetic Materials

Individual scientists, the biotechnology industry, the Patent & Trademark Office, patent practitioners, and the courts do not necessarily agree on what developments involving genetic materials should be protected by patents and how they should be described and claimed in a patent application. The evolution in the law and the current ways in which various inventions are described and claimed in patents are addressed with the focus on the written description, enablement and utility requirements for patentability.