AR-News: (US DC) First ever legal challenge filed against the patenting of an animal

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Groups seek to rescind controversial patent on beagle dogs; Poll shows 
majority of americans oppose patenting animals as inventions
WASHINGTON -- A patent on live beagle dogs was challenged in a legal action 
filed today by two non-profit organizations seeking to rescind the patent. The 
American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) and the PatentWatch Project filed the 
legal challenge with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In the challenge, 
the groups urged the Patent Office to cancel Patent # 6,444,872, which covers 
live beagle dogs and the several methods used to induce a fatal lung infection 
in them. 
"The granting of this patent on dogs, and of hundreds of other patents on 
animals, shows that the Patent Office is in legal and ethical freefall," says 
Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the International Center for Technology 
Assessment (ICTA) which oversees the PatentWatch Project. "Animals like these 
beagles are sentient, living beings not patentable machines or products of some 
institution or corporation. This legal challenge, and the poll numbers showing 
widespread public opposition to animal patenting, should send a strong 
message to the Administration and the Patent Office that this patent is neither 
legally valid nor morally acceptable." 







full story:http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/aas-fel022404.php 







"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing."
Albert Einstein    

                         /\   /\         
                        >' .' <                                
         There is no justice, just us!  
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