Preface

Except where otherwise noted, patent information is current through to January 2003.

Summary

Both granted patents and pending patent applications are subject to change.  A granted patent is typically in force for a 20 year term, calculated from the filing date, as long as the maintenance fees are paid, although some patents have been issued under rules that give them different terms (see tutorial).

An example of a patent that has taken advantage of a pre GATT-TRIPS filing date is US Patent No. 6051757. For this patent, the filing date was June 5, 1995; shortly before the June 8, 1995 GATT/TRIPS deadline in the United States.

US Patent No. 6051757 is a continuation application that claims priority to a parent application with a January 14, 1983 filing date. Had this application been filed three days later, it would have likely had a patent term that expired on January 14, 2003.

However, since the application was filed before the GATT/TRIPS deadline, it is entitled to a patent term calculated 17 years from the issue date, rather than 20 years from the priority date.

The application data provided by PAIR reveals that this application took nearly five years after the filing date to issue. Numerous extensions of time were granted by the examiner during the prosecution of the application. This patent finally issued on April 18, 2000, and is therefore likely entitled to a patent term that would expire on April 18, 2017 (barring any litigation or lapses due to failure to pay maintenance fees). Basically, an invention that was made in 1983 gave rise to a patent that expires 34 years after the first filing date!

The patent term is a period during which the patentee has the right to exclude others from using the technology.  Technology described in a granted patent that lapses due to lack of payment or expiration of the term moves into the public domain, and unless the technology is covered by other patents still in force, people may work inventions in the public domain without infringement.

From the moment of filing, patent applications go through an interactive process between the applicant and the patent office, the so-called "prosecution", which eventually leads to the grant or rejection of a patent application. During this process, which may take several years, the claims, which define the scope of desired protection for the invention, are likely to be amended. Therefore, the claims of a published patent application may differ from those finally granted by a patent office. In addition, an application may be abandoned along the examination process if the applicant decides not to seek patent protection for the invention in a particular country.

This white paper on Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of plants was updated in March 2002 and June 2003, and is undergoing another revision now. The dynamic nature of intellectual property rights, especially in a rapidly evolving area such as biotechnology, makes regular updates necessary in order to keep abreast of new constraints to freedom to operate or of formerly patented technology that becomes freely accessible.

The main changes registered are:

• Abandonment, when the applicants have decided not to continue with the prosecution process or when maintenance fees have not been paid for granted patents;
• Issuance of a patent, when applications listed in previous versions of the paper have resulted in granted patents, which may have different claims;
• Entering European (EP) phase, or national phase in other national patent offices (applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty may be converted to national patent applications after a maximum period of 30 months from the earliest priority date).

A summary table provides information on changes between 2002 and 2003. For convenience, the documents are presented according to the white paper sections to which they pertain and following the order set in the table of contents/index of the document. You will find out more detailed information by following the links provided for each patent application.

• New patents and patent applications

Many new patents and patent applications have emerged in the field of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation since 2002. Some of these patents are directed to new methods for transformation of plant tissues and crops, previously discussed in the white paper, and others are directed to new crops, such as coffee, onions, turfgrass and woody tree species.

The new patent documents are presented in a summary table. Documents are grouped according to the white paper sections set in the table of contents/index. You will find out more detailed information on each patent document by following the links provided in the table.

The information contained in this page was believed to be correct at the time it was collated. New patents and patent applications, altered status of patents, and case law may have resulted in changes in the landscape. CAMBIA makes no warranty that it is correct or up to date at this time and accepts no liability for any use that might be made of it. Corrections or updates to the information are welcome. Please send an email to info@bios.net.

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