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Intellectual Property of Procaryotes

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Bergey’s Manual® of Systematic Bacteriology

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Abstract

Procaryotes and their macromolecular components are protectable as intellectual property, which is a composite legal field of mostly federal laws on patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Patents cover scientific inventions evidencing practical application, and provide exclusive rights for a limited period. Trademarks, as well as tradenames and trade dress, are labels designed to identify to the public particular goods or services, and function to preserve the reputation of a business and to prevent confusing similarity. Copyrights protect original works fixed in any tangible medium of expression, and may be applicable to nucleotide or amino acid sequences. All three of these kinds of intellectual property possess the common characteristic of enabling the owner to obtain an injunction against unlicensed use, and to seek monetary damages. Except where specifically noted, the present essay covers only federal laws of the United States.

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Further Reading

  • No. 79–1464. Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303, 65 L.Ed.2d 144 (Supreme Court).

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  • Cooper, I.P. 1997. Biotechnology and the Law, Clark Boardman Callaghan Co., New York.

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  • Goldbach, K., H. Vogelsang-Wenke and E-J. Zimmer. 1997. Protection of Biotechnological Matter under European and German Law: A Handbook for Applicants, VCH-Law Books, Wenheim.

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  • Kayton, I. 1982. Copyright in living genetically engineered works. Geo. Wash.L. Rev. 50: 191–218.

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  • Meredith, R. 1997. Winning the Race To Invent. Nat. Biotechnol. 15: 283–284.

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  • Meredith, R. 1995. Good news for inventors: A lawyer’s view. Soc. Ind. Microbiol. 45: 73–74.

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  • Miller, A.R. 1993. Copyright protection for computer programs, databases, and computer-generated works: Is anything new since CONTU? Harv.L. Rev. 106: 978–1073.

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Authors
  1. Roy D. Meredith
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Biology, Portland State University, 97207-0751, Portland, OR, USA

    David R. Boone (Vice Chairman) (Vice Chairman)

  2. Department of Biology, University of Oregon, 97403-1210, Eugene, OR, USA

    Richard W. Castenholz

  3. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Bergey’s Manual Trust, Michigan State University, 48824-1101, East Lansing, MI, USA

    George M. Garrity

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Meredith, R.D. (2001). Intellectual Property of Procaryotes. In: Boone, D.R., Castenholz, R.W., Garrity, G.M. (eds) Bergey’s Manual® of Systematic Bacteriology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21609-6_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21609-6_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3159-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21609-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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