Monday, June 17, 2013

DNA And Genes: A Busy Day For The Supreme Court

Two recent US Supreme Court decisions have created some interesting discussion.

 In Maryland v. Kingthe US Supreme Court has ruled that the practice of seizing the DNA of non-convicted arrestees is constitutional.

US Police departments have controversially long collected a "DNA database" of arrestees, suspects, and persons of interest.  

Thailand Patent Lawyer

In Association for Molecular Pathology vs Myriad Genetics, the US Supreme Court was asked whether it was possible to patent genes and held: no if they are naturally occurring; however an invented synthetic gene, can be patented.

We end with this: if police seize DNA from a suspect who has been treated with a patented synthetic DNA, is the police seizure of that DNA a violation of the proprietary rights of the patentee company?  Can the arrestee object to the DNA test as not having authority to surrender the DNA because of non-ownership?


Related Articles: The Idea of Software Patent Protections

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