BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law

Movement in patent term logjam

June 7, 1999 7:00 AM UTC

The Biotechnology Industry Organization is optimistic that conditions in Congress finally are ripe for the passage of legislation that would guarantee a full patent term for biotechnology and other complex innovations.

Congress inadvertently created a hole in the intellectual property protection fabric when it passed legislation in 1995 switching the U.S. patent system from a fixed term of 17 from issuance to 20 years from filing...