Action Alerts

Tell the USPTO You Support AAVS's Rabbit Patent Challenge!

While common sense would rail against the idea that an animal could be considered an invention, a mere object like a toothbrush, toaster, or toilet seat, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been granting patents on animals for over 20 years. AAVS, however, contests the legality of animal patents and recently filed a challenge to Patent No. 6,924,413, issued for rabbits and other animals whose eyes have been purposefully damaged so they can be used to develop treatments for dry eye.

Recognizing the merits of our challenge, the USPTO recently decided to open an investigation into the rabbit patent. The USPTO agreed that substantial new questions of patentability were raised. Following a challenge submitted by AAVS in 2004, the USPTO agreed to re-examine a patent issued for beagles who were sickened and then infected with mold. That challenge succeeded when Texas A&M University dropped its claims on the beagles, and AAVS hopes to find additional success with the rabbit patent.

In 2002, the Canadian Supreme Court rejected the argument that animals could be patented by finding that mice and other 'higher life forms' were not analogous to patentable subject matter. Because Canadian and U.S. patent laws are similar, AAVS is using this Canadian precedent to argue that the USPTO should not allow the patenting of animals.

Allowing an individual to profit, by way of royalty fees, from damaging a rabbit's eyes or otherwise harming an animal represents an abuse of the patent system. WhatÕs more, the hope and promise of financial reward spur heavy investment into the development of animal models for drug and cosmetic testing. The increase in animal patenting seen in recent years, due largely to the proliferation of genetic engineering, represents a serious threat to efforts to reduce animal suffering.

The USPTO, however, is reluctant to look at whether animals really should be considered patentable "subject matter." While a long road lies ahead in challenging the USPTOÕs animal patent policy, AAVS is making strides in protecting animals from such abuses by challenging one patent at a time.

What You Can Do!
Thanks to our many supporters, nearly 3,000 people have already written letters to the USPTO supporting our recent challenge! If you have not already done so, please urge the USPTO to stop patenting animals. A sample letter is provided below, but a personalized letter is even more effective.

Jon W. Dudas, Director
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Mail Stop Inter Partes Reexam
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450


Dear Mr. Dudas,

I support the Request for Re-examination of Patent # 6,924,413 submitted by the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) challenging the patenting of rabbits and other animals whose eyes have been purposefully damaged.

I am opposed to the USPTO's practice of issuing patents on animals. This is an inappropriate application of United States Patent Law. Animals are sentient beings, not machines or mere "compositions of matter."

I urge you to stop patenting animals.

Sincerely,