Intellectual property protection agricultural biotechnology

In the case of agricultural biotechnology, these concerns include the scientific imderpinning of regulations, technology transfer, intellectual property protection, training/career development, consumer information/education, and research funding. 

The protection of intellectual property rights is one of the strongest incentives for investment in scientific endeavors such as agricultural biotechnology. In the United States, patents, the primary form of intellectual property protection available for biotechnological inventions, can be issued on plants, non-human animals and micro-organisms. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued it s first patent on an animal in 1988, and the backlog of animal patent applications is well over 150(3). 

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