"The granting of this patent on dogs, and of hundreds of other patents on animals, shows that the Patent Office is in legal and ethical freefall," says Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) which oversees the PatentWatch Project. "Animals like these beagles are sentient, living beings not patentable machines or products of some institution or corporation. This legal challenge, and the poll numbers showing widespread public opposition to animal patenting, should send a strong message to the Administration and the Patent Office that this patent is neither legally valid nor morally acceptable."
The dogs claimed in the patent are intended for use in experiments. The patent being challenged was issued to the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System in Austin, Texas, and, like many other patents on animals, now appears to be exclusively licensed to a private company.
"We have requested that the Patent and Trademark Office cancel the claims of this beagle patent because neither beagles nor other higher animals fit into any of the statutory categories of patentable subject matter," said PatentWatch Director Peter DiMauro.
Recent changes in U.S. patent law now allow any person to request a reexamination of certain issued patents and participate in the proceedings as they progress through the patent system. Since the Patent and Trademark Office first issued a patent on an animal in 1987, it has accepted nearly 500 patent applications on animals.
However, results from a February Opinion Research Corp. survey of 1,008 U.S. adults commissioned by AAVS found that two out of three people consider it unethical to issue patents on animals as if they were human inventions. Further, 85% of those surveyed were not even aware that governments and corporations are getting patents on animals. "We don't treat our companion animals like we treat our toasters or computers for the obvious reason that they are not inanimate objects," stated Sue Leary, AAVS President. "They are not articles of manufacture, they are not human inventions. Animal patents have no place in our society and are an inappropriate application of U.S. patent law."
In addition, AAVS and PatentWatch are concerned about the incentive that animal patents provide to increase animal suffering. Most animal patents directly include harming, mutilating, killing, and/or genetically altering animals for experimentation, testing, and research. "The patent that AAVS and PatentWatch are challenging involves subjecting beagles to radiation, drugs, and forced infection, resulting in a fatal illness," added Leary.
The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) is a non-profit animal advocacy and educational organization dedicated to ending experiments on animals in research, testing, and education. Founded in Philadelphia in 1883, AAVS is the oldest organization in the United States dedicated to eliminating experiments on animals. AAVS pursues its objectives through legal and effective advocacy, education, and support of the development of non-animal alternative methods.
The International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) is a public interest and advocacy organization that works to address the impacts of technology on human health, animal welfare, and the environment.
The PatentWatch Project of the International Center for Technology Assessment works to expose and challenge the inappropriate use of the U.S. patent system.
For more information, including document downloads, visit: www.stopanimalpatents.org.