OT: More on Bad Patents...

[Joshua Zeidner]

Jeff,

  This is only the tip of the iceberg.  There is, for instance, a
plant patent for a breed of corn I believe that requires a certain
kind of pesticide that also has a patent associated with it.  If this
breed of corn happens to take over your field, you can be sued by
Monsanto( or whatever company  ).  There are also people patenting
traditional herbal medicines, and some claim natural food varieties.
Its a huge IP land grab that the American public never sanctioned, and
will certainly not benefit from.

  Patents are a major problem that haven't received enough press.

 -jmz


On 2/15/07, Jeff Garland <jeff at crystalclearsoftware.com> wrote:
> Since we were just discussing patents, some might find this opinion by Michael
> Crichton interesting.  You might recall that he was a doctor before he became
> an author....
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/opinion/13crichton.html?ex=1172034000&en=7ea43bf26f91f0fc&ei=5070&emc=eta1%3E
>
> You'll need to have a free login to read it.  Here's a couple of key points:
>
> Gene patents are now used to halt research, prevent medical testing and keep
> vital information from you and your doctor....And they raise costs
> exorbitantly: a test for breast cancer that could be done for $1,000 now costs
> $3,000.
>
> ...
>
> But forget the costs: why should people or companies own a disease in the
> first place? They didn't invent it. Yet today, more than 20 human pathogens
> are privately owned, including haemophilus influenza and Hepatitis C. And
> we've already mentioned that tests for the BRCA genes for breast cancer cost
> $3,000. Oh, one more thing: if you undergo the test, the company that owns the
> patent on the gene can keep your tissue and do research on it without asking
> your permission. Don't like it? Too bad.
>
> ...
>
>
> Jeff
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