It was not until 1980 that the first living body was patented. At that time, the Supreme Court of the United States passed a patent on microorganisms that could be used to dissolve oil spills by a vote of 5 to 4. This court decision has since opened the door to living patents, and more than 3 million gene-related patent applications have been submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
People in industry and academia believe that this judgment pushes the scope of patents wider, from genes and other living organisms to cells (including stem cells) and the whole organism. The early gene patents followed the pattern of traditional chemical patents, but in the 1990s, the ever-changing scientific and technological progress once again subverted the status quo. The rapid gene sequencing technology that appeared during the period of 10 promoted the human genome project and broke the simple mode of following chemical patents in the past.
Allowing gene information to be patented undermines the balance of the entire patent system. In order to get an exclusive business opportunity for 20 years, the applicant must disclose the process of invention so that others can use this knowledge to improve the existing technology. Under the pressure of these objections, the US Patent Office drew up a new standard in 200 1, requiring auditors to pay attention to whether the application has "special and important practical value" when evaluating biotechnology patents. For other fields of science and technology, the practicality of patents is a secondary condition, and the most important thing is whether the invention is innovative, because most inventors will not seek protection for worthless inventions. For patents related to life, the practicality of invention becomes the key to evaluate the quality of patents. Choosing a DNA sequence as a gene probe or chromosome marker will not meet the new patent requirements.