BIO Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Diamond v. Chakrabarty Decision
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Wednesday, June 16, 2010) - Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood released the following statement in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Diamond v. Chakrabarty:
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Diamond v. Chakrabarty thirty years ago today was instrumental in spurring the creation of a dynamic and flourishing biotech industry. By finding that subject matter derived from nature is eligible for patenting if it is modified by man into something new, useful and unobvious, the Court provided assurance to biotech companies and their investors that emerging technologies are protected by the patent system even if they could not have been foreseen when the system was created 200 years earlier.
“Since the Court’s decision, the biotechnology industry in the United States has improved and saved lives around the world through breakthrough medical therapies, increased crop yields, and renewable fuels. Our industry is a key component of the nation’s innovation economy, supporting more than 7.5 million jobs throughout the country and providing the United States with a global competitive advantage.”
For more information on how biotechnology benefits society and is poised to help address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, please visit www.valueofbiotech.org.
Upcoming BIO Events
World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing
June 27-30, 2010
Washington, DC
BIO India
September 21 - 22, 2010
Hyderabad, India
BIO’s Livestock Biotechnology Summit
September 28-30, 2010,
Sioux Falls, SD
BIO Investor Forum
October 5-6, 2010
San Francisco, CA
BIO Intellectual Property Counsels Committee Fall Conference and Committee Meeting
October 18-20, 2010
Boston, MA
About BIO
BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.
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