Biological Patent

Description

From the Wikipedia:

"A biological patent is a patent relating to an invention or discovery in biology. It can be a composition of matter, a method for obtaining or using one or more thereof, or a product combining such things. As with all utility patents in the U.S, the patent provides the patent holder with the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing the claimed invention for a limited period of time - for patents filed after 1998, twenty years from the filing date. Natural biological substances themselves can be patented (apart from any associated process or usage) in the United States if they are sufficiently "isolated" from their naturally occurring states. Prominent historical examples of such patents on isolated products of nature include adrenaline, insulin, vitamin B12, and gene patents." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_patent)