Stem Cell Patent Claim

WARF stem cell patent claim upheld by patent office

Bill Novak — 2/28/2008 7:23 am

From the CapTimes

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has won a key patent battle for one of its stem cell patents, after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld the foundation's claim to the patent.

The decision affirms WARF's contention that an initial UW-Madison human embryonic stem cell discovery is a patentable invention.

The decision was announced in a press release this morning from WARF.

The patent for the primate and human embryonic stem cell known as 913 was one of three under review by the patent office, following challenges brought by the New York-based Public Patent Foundation and the California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.

The 913 decision was the first in the review process, with the patent office also re-examining the patents by WARF for stem cells 780 and 806.

Decisions on the 780 and 806 patents are still pending by the patent office.

"We're extremely pleased with this decision," said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF. "It affirms what WARF has believed all along, that Dr. James Thomson's breakthrough discoveries are patentable inventions."

Thomson is considered the pioneer in stem cell research, with WARF patenting the initial stem cell discoveries and then licensing the stem cells to other research facilities.

Since 1999, according to WARF, 914 licenses for stem cells have been issued through the non-profit WiCell Research Institute, with stem cells shipped to more than 563 researchers in 25 countries and 40 states.