Patent Office Invalidates Wisconsin Embryonic Stem Cell Patents

On Friday the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tossed out three broad and controversial human embryonic stem cells patents. Scientists have complained for years that the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, or WARF, patents have slowed research.

But don't break out the Petri dishes and blastocysts just yet, the patents remain intact until the nonprofit's attorneys exhaust all of their legal options. They have two months to respond to the concerns, and if they have no luck there they can take the case to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. If still no luck, the foundation can file a claim in court.

The patents stem from James Thompson's (a University of Wisconsin researcher) 1998 first-time isolation of embryonic stem cells (the first patent was issued in 2001).

The patents have been a serious problem for stem cell scientists, who have been worried about the costs and restrictions imposed by the patent holder, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, or WARF. Some U.S. companies moved their research operations overseas, where the patents are not in force, after failing to strike a licensing deal with the Madison-based foundation, which manages the university's intellectual property.
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The office ruled the discovery of embryonic stem cells from primates — including humans — was not worthy of patent protection because scientists had used similar methods to isolate embryonic stem cells from mice and other mammals, and described the cells' potential for producing medical therapies.

As WARF's managing director Carl Gulbrandsen says: "It is inconceivable to us that Dr. Thomson's discovery … would be found to be not worthy of a patent."

But perhaps they should be fewer and more narrow.

U.S. invalidates three human stem cell patents[LA Times]