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U.S. Government Patents Medical Marijuana?
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008I’m not really sure what to make of this.
20 Responses to “U.S. Government Patents Medical Marijuana?”
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It’s pretty clear to me that the gov’t plans to use patent law as an additional weapon in the war on drugs.
As more and more states begin to enact medical marijuana laws that are counter to federal laws, the DEA is probably growing tired of looking like the bad guy when they storm clinics and slap cuffs on wheelchair-bound grannies with glaucoma.
This way they can enlist DHHS to tie clinics up in costly patent litigation instead. Lots of prior art though, so I’m not sure how well the strategy would hold up. If nothing else, it’s a useful demonstration of just how harmful the current patent system is.
Exactly what I was thinking Kieffer. If they somehow manage to lose the issue in the criminal courts they now have the ability to make it a civil issue, trademark infringement. Except that would be a brilliant forethought that I don’t believe any gov’t agency is capable of.
Why those lousy motherfuckers. Those fucking cocksuckers. I’m gonna put the ZZ’s on both their cheeks, they’ll remember me for the rest of their lives.
They key part to the patent is the “non-psychoactive” cannabinoid, which has been used for some time legally, like Dronabinol and Nabilone…nothing new here. Now, if they were to issue a patent for some chronic or sweet hash, then maybe there would be some issue.
Is it too late to apply for a patent on having a monopoly agency of force in a geographic region?
How do you patent a naturally growing plant? Any patent lawyers around?
What a bunch of pricks.
I agree with Mikestermike that this is not news. However to patent with one department what another department claims has no benefits, well that’s something so fucking lame ONLY the government could do it.
Tokin42, you’re confused. Trademarks are something completely different from patents. And there’s nothing all that brilliant about obtaining an obviously invalid patent.
Edintally:
“How do you patent a naturally growing plant? Any patent lawyers around?”
Actually (don’t quote me) I believe there was a debate on this around 1999-2000 when they were debating the merits of a bill that would make such a thing possible. Al Gore was blasted for siding with corporations on the issue. Basically the bill was passed and “bio-piracy” was legitimized and has been used to rob South Americans of the compensation they deserve for sharing their herbal medical knowledge with us.
There’s a book called “The Shaman’s Apprentice” by Mark J. Plotkin (who is a former student of Richard Evans Schultes, a researcher of ethnomedicine, psychedelics, and contemporary of Albert Hofmann - the man who invented LSD) that explains this better than I can.
This isn’t a patent on a plant, it’s a patent on certain chemicals similar to the ones produced by the plant.
“any call to indict the United States for torture is therefore a lame and diseased attempt to arrive at a moral equivalence between those who defend civilization and those who exploit its freedoms to hollow it out, and ultimately to bring it down. I myself do not trust anybody who does not clearly understand this viewpoint.”
HMMMM?
Guys, take a deep breath.
Two of the three people listed on the patent have addresses in Rockville and Bethesda. They are (most likely, as in I would bet some serious cash on it) research scientists working at the NIH. When you work for the NIH (or any other government agency) any patents or copyrights coming out of your work are assigned to the federal government.
I’d be willing to bet that if you look these guys up you will see that they have done scientific research supporting the therapeutic use of cannabanoids.
For example…
B — you are quite right. This patent was based on research done at NIH (National Institute of Health) and the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). I can just see these guys bosses twisting in the wind, “do we stick to our guns about how medically useless cannabis is — or, do we hedge our bets, file the patent in case profits are to be made, and hope no one notices?” (and obviously no one did notice for a heck of a long time.) I love it, because, whatever their noble or nefarious intentions were — the point is: this is a legal document in the public domain, and a HUGE fissure in the DEA position, and totally undermines the legislative classification of cannabis as schedule I (having no medical value). I, for one, would like to see information about this patent broadcast as far and wide as possible.
Canada has allowed patenting of seeds for awhile and the seed companies are winning. Check out “The Future of Food”, pretty scary stuff.
Actually, the patent isn’t even for the chemicals. The patent is a method of treating diseases.
As far as invalidating this “obviously invalid patent”, as someone had referred, keep in mind that you have to prove that the steps performed in the claims of the patent (i.e. treating a disease by administering a cannabinoid to a patient having a disease caused by oxidative stress) have been performed.
So, feel free to stand up in open court and testify that, prior to the filing of this patent, you provided marijuana to your sick cousin who was dying of AIDS. Any volunteers?
I’m a patent attorney. As PA said, the patent is for methods of treating various diseases. The claims are what define the metes and bounds of the protection to which the patentee is entitled. In my opinion, the claims are narrowly drawn, and probably have very little value. So the whole patent is not worth getting too worked up about.
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