Modern Biopiracy Cases

Diamond v. Chakrabarty (patenting life)

1980Ananda Mohan ChakrabartyUS Supreme CourtDiaspora (work abroad)

1980

Won the first patent on a genetically engineered organism (an oil-eating bacterium).

Dated: 1980
As scholars put it: 1980
Originator: Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty
Source text: US Supreme Court
Region: Diaspora (work abroad)
Discipline: Modern Biopiracy Cases
Evidence: Documented
Confidence: High
Verification: Reference-cited

Background

Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty, an Indian-born microbiologist at General Electric, engineered a Pseudomonas bacterium able to break down crude oil. The US Patent Office rejected his claim to the organism itself on the ground that living things could not be patented.

Significance

In 1980 the US Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that a living, human-made micro-organism is patentable. It was the first ruling of its kind.

Fair to say

Ironically, the precedent later enabled patents that India contested.

Path to modern innovation

Opened the door to biotech patents worldwide.

Global impact

Became the legal foundation for patents on engineered organisms, genes and cell lines, and for the biotechnology industry built on them.
The wider scope of patentable life also set the stage for later disputes over patents on traditional crops and medicinal plants.

Transmission

Work done at General Electric in the US (diaspora).

References

1Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303 (1980)