pressed sequence tags (ESTs) to detect genes in DNA
and started the Human Genome Project. By the end
of the decade, Venter established Celera Genomics
with laboratory equipment maker PE Corporation to
use computers to establish a genetic database. Ge-
netic researchers attempted cloning animals in the
1990’s. In July, 1996, Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut
of Roslin Institute cloned a sheep named Dolly. Other
researchers created genetically engineered flowers
and food. While many people supported those
achievements, others expressed ethical concerns and
protested genetic manipulation.
Other 1990’s inventions contributed to transpor-
tation and defense needs by improving materials
used to construct automobiles, aircraft, and satel-
lites. For example, Peter Searson and Theodore
Poehler used their polymer expertise to invent plas-
tic batteries. The Hubble Space Telescope and other
aerospace inventions provided researchers with
more precise tools to conduct astronomical investi-
gations. Communications inventions permeated
daily activities, ranging from personal to industrial
and governmental usage. During the decade, inven-
tors designed smaller digital and satellite phones
with more functions. Wireless Application Protocol
enabled cellular phone connections with the Inter-
net. Introduced in 1992, Sony’s MiniDisc enabled
users to record and play audio on a device they could
easily carry while exercising or pursuing other activi-
ties. By 1998, engineers developed MP3 compres-
sion methods to store large amounts of digital files.
Patenting Biotechnology Some 1990’s inventions
were controversial because they presented concerns
patent laws did not address. Computer software and
biotechnology provoked the most debate about
what inventions were patentable. The 1980 U.S. Su-
preme Court decision supporting Ananda Chakra-
barty’s patent for a genetically engineered organism
had intensified research to identify and secure rights
to genetic material. Pharmaceutical and medical in-
vestors recognized the financial potential of genetic
patents by selling licenses to drug manufacturers. A
1991 trial in San Francisco, California, resulted in a
ruling protecting patents the Cetus Corporation
had acquired when its researcher, Kary B. Mullis, de-
termined how a polymerase chain reaction pro-
duced copies from a genetic sample, impeding
other researchers from using that technique without
purchasing rights.
In 1992, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
filed for several thousand patents for DNA fragments
with unknown genes. Although the USPTO rejected
the NIH applications, biotechnology work escalated.
Researchers utilized automated sequencers to iden-
tify EST. Worldwide, approximately 1,175 patents
were issued specifying human DNA sequences by- The USPTO stated that researchers could sub-
mit EST patent applications even when associated
genes and functions were unknown. This decision up-
set some researchers because EST patent owners
could claim rights to any genes in patented EST, keep-
ing other researchers from investigating those genes.
Overwhelmed by EST applications, the USPTO
held public hearings to seek ways to manage biotech-
nology applications so they would not interfere with
review of nongenetic applicants. By spring 1999, the
USPTO increased its examiner staff to 3,000 to re-
view approximately 240,000 applications. Some ex-
aminers lacked sufficient expertise and experience
to review complex biotechnology patent applica-
tions, rejecting or accepting applications without be-
ing aware of precedents or other crucial informa-
tion. They occasionally asked applicants to present
proof that EST had medical applications. Several sci-
entific groups requested more competent evalua-
tions, and the USPTO provided some biotechnology
training to examiners.
Computer Patents Inconsistent evaluation of soft-
ware during the 1990’s also distressed inventors. The
USPTO did not routinely patent software until 1994.
That year the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit, which had been established in the 1980’s
specifically for judges experienced in intellectual
property law to hear patent cases, stated that soft-
ware included in hard drives or other storage media
such as floppy disks was patentable. While indus-
try leaders, especially the Microsoft Corporation,
sought patents to protect their inventions, other
software producers, including Oracle Corporation,
considered patents detrimental to the creation of fu-
ture software.
Inventors and executives identified a December,
1993, patent to Compton’s New Media as a threat to
their multimedia pursuits, especially when Comp-
ton’s stated it expected royalties from any company
using technological aspects of its patent. Some crit-
ics suggested that broad software patents gave own-
ers monopolies over intrinsic functions necessary to458 Inventions The Nineties in America