Bioinformatics: the role and limitations of patents

The worldwide market for bioinformatics tools and services is estimated, by some, to exceed US$40 billion within the next five years. As with other biotech companies, patent protection will be key to survival in the marketplace. Although the total number of issued bioinformatics patents is still small, virtually all aspects of bioinformatics constitute patentable subject matter, and the opportunity to generate intellectual property value from investment in bioinformatics should not be neglected.