CONTAMINANTES
3 More Biotech Firms File Suit Against Columbia Over Patent: The suits say Columbia abused the patent system by obtaining a new patent covering the same invention that an expired patent had covered. The suits seek to invalidate the new patent and establish that the companies do not owe any more money to Columbia. [...]
In the late 1970's, Columbia scientists, led by Richard Axel, developed a technique useful for genetically engineering animal cells to make them produce biotech drugs like interferon, which is used to treat multiple sclerosis. The first patent, issued in 1983, was licensed by numerous companies and became one of the most lucrative ever held by a university, earning royalty payments of about $100 million a year in its final years. Columbia used the royalties to support university research.
The patent expired in August 2000. Before it did, Columbia tried to get Congress to extend the patent for 14 to 18 months. But after the biotechnology industry objected, the effort failed. The industry thought that was the end of the matter.
But the university had also applied for additional patents, a technique commonly used by businesses.