Patent has long been presumed to be an essential mechanism for realising the value of intellectual labour invested in the manufacture of biological inventions. By examining how the creators of engineered mice strains deposited at the Jackson Laboratory have utilised patent, I here explore the paradoxical matter of why they have not asserted their rights in the way anticipated by patent advocates. The emergence of new open source economies in mammalian genetic resources (the Mouse Academic Commons) has served to valorise collaborative working and iterative forms of experimentation. Engineered mouse strains are, in this context, best conceived of as an experimental space or biological commons open to re-invention by all. The key issue of how individual donors can protect the integrity of their donated ‘works’ and capitalize on the intellectual labour invested in their creation remains, however, largely unexplored. Here I argue that value lies not in the model mouse or strain itself, but rather in the experimental techniques that assure its continued genetic integrity; and demonstrate how process patents and trademark are together deployed to assure the reliability of the personality, identity, and reputation of the protected strains; and with it the economic viability of a biotechnological commons.

中文翻译：

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新兴生物公共领域中的专利和“开源”挑战，或者……贝蒂·克罗克和老鼠的奇怪案例

长期以来，专利被认为是实现投资于生物发明制造的智力劳动价值的重要机制。通过研究保存在杰克逊实验室的工程小鼠品系的创造者如何利用专利，我在这里探讨了为什么他们没有以专利倡导者预期的方式主张自己的权利的矛盾问题。哺乳动物遗传资源（老鼠学术共享）中新的开源经济体的出现促进了协作工作和迭代形式的实验。在这种情况下，工程小鼠品系最好被视为一个实验空间或生物公地，所有人都可以重新发明。然而，个人捐赠者如何保护他们捐赠的“作品”的完整性并利用投资于他们创作的智力劳动的关键问题仍然很大程度上未得到探索。在这里，我认为价值不在于模型小鼠或品系本身，而在于确保其持续遗传完整性的实验技术；并展示如何同时部署工艺专利和商标以确保受保护菌株的个性、身份和声誉的可靠性；以及生物技术公地的经济可行性。并展示如何同时部署工艺专利和商标以确保受保护菌株的个性、身份和声誉的可靠性；以及生物技术公地的经济可行性。并展示如何同时部署工艺专利和商标以确保受保护菌株的个性、身份和声誉的可靠性；以及生物技术公地的经济可行性。