{
  "id": "RL30648",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30648",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101974,
      "date": "2000-08-31",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:33:53.468941",
      "title": "An Examination of the Issues Surrounding Biotechnology Patenting and Its Effect Upon Entrepreneurial Companies",
      "summary": "The biotechnology industry is notable both for its heavy concentration of small businesses and\nits\nweighty research and development (R&D) expenditures. Given the small size and heavy\nexpenses\nof many biotechnology firms, their ability to raise venture capital may be of some consequence. The\npatent law has been identified as a facilitator of these R&D financing efforts.\n  Although many observers believe that the patent law plays a significant role in the\nbiotechnology industry, two principal issues have arisen regarding biotechnology patenting. First,\nobservers have fundamentally questioned whether patents should be granted for living inventions,\ngenetic materials and other biotechnologies. Ethical issues, concerns that biotechnology patenting\npromotes animal suffering and decreases genetic diversity, as well as regard for the traditional\nagricultural community animate many of these objections. Supporters of biotechnology patenting\ncounter that trade secret protection is a less attractive social alternative, observe that patents have\nlong been granted for biotechnologies, and question whether the patent law is the appropriate vehicle\nfor technology assessment.\n  Commentators have also differed over the extent to which an inventor must show a specific,\npractical use for a biotechnology in order to be awarded a patent. Some observers favor a strict view\nof the utility requirement due to concerns over overlapping upstream patents that discourage research\nand commercialization. Others believe that the utility requirement should be applied leniently,\nstating that a strict view of utility will only lead to industry concentration and that biotechnology\nresearch tools cannot be meaningfully distinguished from other sorts of inventions.\n  Congress may choose to exercise oversight on these issues. Such consideration would likely\ninclude examination of U.S. commitments in international agreements along with other factors.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL30648",
          "sha1": "d6c2772200cd17af7176ba6c11e7e5fd85dc7b1e",
          "filename": "files/20000831_RL30648_d6c2772200cd17af7176ba6c11e7e5fd85dc7b1e.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30648",
          "sha1": "dd473ca354e139b9d595969fd086f1639b1d3161",
          "filename": "files/20000831_RL30648_dd473ca354e139b9d595969fd086f1639b1d3161.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": []
}