&CHAPTER 14

Intellectual Property in Agricultural

Biotechnology: Strategies for Open

Access

ALAN B. BENNETT, CECILIA CHI-HAM, GREGORY GRAFF, and SARA BOETTIGER

Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture, Department of Plant Sciences, University

of California, Davis, California

14.0. CHAPTER SUMMARY AND OBJECTIVES

14.0.1 Summary

Patenting of intellectual property is of critical importance in biotechnology, and plant bio-

technology is no exception. DNA sequences, proteins, transformation techniques, and in

fact, the transgenic plants themselves, all have utility and can be considered inventions,

and therefore patentable. Nearly all transgenic plants have numerous patented or patentable

inventions associated with them, and some prominent examples are examined in this

chapter. In addition, there is a fairly recent movement to work around patents to deliver bio-

technology and transgenic crops to the poorer farmers of the world. Taking cues from the

open-source software movement, a relatively small group of biotechnologists are develop-

ing and dispersing inventions that are not constrained by patents and can be further

improved on, and then used for humanitarian purposes.

14.0.2 Discussion Questions

1. What is intellectual property, and how does it differ from tangible property? Discuss
   ways in which intellectual and tangible property rights can be transferred to third
   parties.


2. What is a patent, and what are the limitations on patent rights?


3. Contrast the “tragedy of the commons” and “tragedy of the anticommons” metaphors.
   How do the metaphors relate to intellectual property, particularly in agricultural
   biotechnology?

Plant Biotechnology and Genetics: Principles, Techniques, and Applications, Edited by C. Neal Stewart, Jr.

Copyright#2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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