“What you need is a law that says expressly that matter includes plants and animals,” he said.
Canada does allow patents on microorganisms.
Morrow said that while Harvard cannot control reproduction of the mouse, his firm will negotiate with the Canadian patent office to patent the methods and cell cultures it used to develop the oncogenes.
A reviewer from that office had first objected to Harvard’s efforts to patent the oncomouse in 1993. He was seconded by the patent commissioner in 1995, and a one-judge federal panel approved that position in 1998.
A federal appeals court then overturned the lower court decision, accepting Harvard’s application, in 2000, before the Supreme Court decision Thursday.
—Staff writer Elisabeth S. Theodore can be reached at theodore@fas.harvard.edu.