Intellectual Property and Development of Transgenic Horticultural Crops - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 227

Literature timeline

Deikman and Fischer (1988)

Deikman et al. (1992)

Giovannoni et al. (1989)

1985 1990 1995

Agritope 360,974
12/20/1994
U.S. 5,589,623

Epitope 046,583
04/09/1993
U.S. 5,723,746
WO 94/24294

Agritope
448,095
12/12/1989

Agritope
613,858
12/12/1990 Epitope

10/27/1994
U.S. 5,859,330

Agritope 255,833
06/08/1994
U.S. 5,416,250

Patent and patent
application timeline

Monsanto
632,440
12/26/1990

Epitope 261,677
06/17/1994
U.S. 5,750,864

FIGURE 10.2 Timeline. of. tomato. E8. promoter. scientiic. publications. and. United. States.
(U.S.).and.World.(WO).patent.iling..(From.Fenton,.G..et.al.,.eds.,.Freedom.to.operate:.the.law.
irms. approach. and. role,. in. Intellectual Property Management in Health and Agricultural
Innovation: A Handbook of Best Practices ,.eds..A..Krattiger.et.al..2007,.available.online.at.
www.ipHandbook.org)

Figure.10.2.illustrates.the.IP.priority.timeline.for.the.E8.promoter..A.thorough.FTO.
analysis.may.require.direct.contact.with.the.researchers,.and,.in.this.analysis,.it.was.
learned.from.the.authors.of.the.Deikman.and.Fischer.publication 10 .that.they.did.not.
apply.for.patent.protection.prior.to.their.publication..This.information.was.also.con-
irmed.by.searching.patent.databases..Based.on.this.information,.it.was.presumed.
that.the.basic.E8.promoter.technology.was.in.the.public.domain.based.on.the.pub-
lications,. which. constituted. a. public.disclosure..However,.this.conclusion.required.
thorough.review.and.documentation.of.the.published.literature.or.“prior.art”.relative.
to.the.subject.matter.of.subsequent.patents.
As. shown. in. the. priority. timeline,. the. Deikman. and. Fischer 10 . and. Giovannoni.
et al. 11 . publications. initially. describe. the. E8. promoter. technology.. This. precluded.
the.novelty.of.any.subsequent.patent.claims.on.the.E8.promoter.per.se.(for.example,.
applications.iled.by.Agritope.and.Epitope)..Counsel.concluded.that.the.tomato.E8.
promoter.constructs.per.se.and.as.described.in.the.scientiic.publications.can.be.rea-
sonably.considered.to.be.in.the.public.domain..However,.patent.issues.subsequently.
may.limit.the.use.of.the.E8.promoter.to.drive.speciic.heterologous.genes.or.to.use.
in. combination. with. other. transcription. regulatory. elements. (see. Figure. 10.2).. For.
example,.Epitope's.patent.U.S..5,859,330.contains.very.narrow.claims.to.the.use.of.
the.E8.promoter.with.a.speciic.gene,. S -adenosylmethionine.hydrolase..Therefore,.
this.speciic.E8.promoter-gene.combination.would.fall.under.the.scope.of.the.patent..