Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
thermophilic bacterium
Pyrolobus fumarii
for use in biotechnology (US patent 7,781,198,
Verenium Corporation - formerly Diversa), and an enzyme from the thermophilic bacteri-
um
Thermodesulfatator indicus
(US patent 20110008848 (application) by GeneSys Ltd,
UK) originated from beyond national jurisdiction. The source organisms were collected
from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans respectively, indicating a wide geographic
range of sampling .
These examples demonstrate that there is ongoing activity, including through the as-
sertion of patents, to use marine genetic resources that originate in areas beyond national
jurisdiction for commercial purposes. While such patents are still few, they are an indic-
ation of the commercial potential of these organisms. It should be noted, though, that it
is unclear how many patents result in actual commercialization or widespread application.
Tracking the path from a patent to a product or process is difficult for a number of reasons:
a product or process may be marketed under a different name; there may have been a series
of additional transformations and applications of the original material; or because compan-
ies often do not disclose information relating to product development.
In general, it is also often difficult to tell whether a given sample or source organism
was collected from within or beyond national jurisdiction. Patent applications seldom in-
clude the geographical coordinates of sampling locations, and may instead contain general
descriptions of a location, such as 'the Mid-Ocean Ridge' or 'the East Pacific Rise', which
may or may not be beyond national jurisdiction. In addition, many patents are based on
bacterial strains or specimens sourced from culture collections, sometimes complicating
further the link between field research (through which the sample was collected), and later
commercial use. Discerning the exact collection location of an organism that is the object
of a patent and later commercial development usually requires a careful and in-depth study
of the scientific literature related to the discovery of that organism to identify the geograph-
ic coordinates. While time-consuming, it is most often the only way to map collection loc-
ations of organisms that have resulted in patented inventions and commercialized products
or processes .
