{blr 533} interleukin-2 - intellectual property - cetus

5 Biotechnology Law Report 199 (July 1986)

Mr. Halluin continued, "Now that this has been accomplished and the claims inthe patent have been allowed over this additional prior art, we feel that the ratherthorough PTO reexamination has enhanced the presumption of the validity of thepatent."

The patent has been regarded as the only issued U.S. patent broadly coveringDNA probe technology. The patent, describes and claims the method for detecting thepresence of disease-producing organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, in a clinicalsample.

The reexamination certificate is reproduced at <BLR 543> infra.

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{BLR 533} Interleukin-2 - Intellectual Property-

Cetus.

CETUS SCIENTISTS NAMED INVENTOR OFTHE YEAR FOR JOINT DEVELOPMENTOF INTERLEUKIN-2—First Award Given to Invention

Involving Genetic EngineeringWASHINGTON, D.C. 4/11/86—The Intellectual Property Owners, Inc. (IPO) pr-

esented their 13th annual Inventor of the Year Award jointly to David F. Mark, LeoS. Lin and Shi-Da Y. Lu of the Cetus Corporation, Emeryville, CA. The Award was forthe development of the genetically engineered drug, interleukin-2, a protein whichhas been showing promising early results in human testing as a potential treatmentfor for a broad range of cancers. Cetus Corp. received its third patent on inter-leukin-2 this past February.

The Inventor of the Year Award is based on work that was either patented duringthe previous year or was first commercially introduced dring that year. This yearsaward was presented by Sen Charles Mathias, Jr. (R-MD), Chairman of the JudiciarySubcommittee on Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks.

FIRST TIME FOR PATENT INVOLVING GENETIC ENGINEERING

IPO president Donald W. Banner called the three Cetus scientists "representa-tive of the best of the new wave of inventors in the field of genetic engineering."

This was the first time the Award was given for an invention involving geneticengineering. According to Cetus officials, it is hoped that interleukin-2 will beapproved by the FDA and be available to the public by the end of the decade.

The IPO is a nonprofit association representing people who hold patents, trade-marks, and copyrights. Members include independent inventors, large corporations,small businesses, and universities.

The front pages and claims of the patent and a subsequent one divided out fromit are reproduced at <BLR 544> infra.

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