Patent Pending: How the Current Patent Utility Requirement Hinders Biotechnological Innovation

The legal system is always playing catch up to adapt to new legal landscapes, doctrines, and technology; however, patent law needs help to compete with biotechnological research in the race towards innovation. Biotechnological research in the realm of human health and medicine often involves the use of therapeutic drugs. The field of healthcare biotechnology takes biological systems and processes and generates novel, creative solutions to a number of human health conditions. However, the translation process for a new drug, therapy, or process is long and expensive which requires investors to help the researchers and scientists move their creations from inception to universal use. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has updated their criteria to accommodate the unique nature of biotechnological research, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has not followed suit. The Court's stringent application of the utility requirement in patent law precludes numerous biotechnological processes and products from patent protection. Changing the Court's standard of interpretation will spur further innovation in the biotechnological field as researchers and scientists will receive necessary financial backing with the knowledge that patent protection is possible for their creations.