IP issues
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) of Australia and the companies Lubrizol Enterprises and Mycogen Plant Science (U.S.) have jointly filed and been granted patents related to the Adh promoter and “regulatory elements”. Actual assignment of the patent rights varies among jurisdictions according to Inpadoc. The table shows the entity identifed by Inpadoc as owning the patents granted in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States. These may now be controlled by Dow.
Approximate scope of protection
The patents do not refer to the maize Adh-1 promoter as such. They cover some elements derived from the promoter regions of maize aldolase gene, maize Adh-1 and Adh-2genes. The patents are in general directed to two different aspects:
- the ARE regions of the promoters of maize ADH genes and maize aldolase gene, and
- the chimeric pEmu having ARE regions and an intron
1. Patents directed to the ARE enhancer regions
- Patents directed to these regions were granted in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The enhancer regions are part of a recombinant promoter molecule that has, from 5′ to 3′ direction, at least:
- the ARE regions
- a promoter expressible in plants, which is basically reduced to a TATA box, and
- a structural gene under the control of the above mentioned elements
- The claims of the European patent encompass the DNA sequences of the ARE regions of:
- maize aldolase gene,
- maize adh-1 and adh-2 genes, and
- sequences that are at least 66% homologous to the mentioned genes
- The Canadian patent also claims a method for the expression of a structural gene in a plant under conditions of low oxygen.
2. Patents directed to a chimeric promoter known as pEmu
- The patents on a recombinant promoter for enhancing-expression of structural genes in monocot plant cells have been granted in the U.S., Europe and Australia. The minimum elements of the promoter in direction 5′ to 3′, claimed in all three jurisdictions, are:
- several ARE enhancer elements
- a TATA box
- a transcription start site
- an intron and
- a structural gene;
- In addition, the independent claims of the U.S. and the Australian patents comprise enhancer elements derived from the ocs promoter region.
- Although the examples provided in the specification refer to the ARE regions and intron 1 derived from the maize aldolase and maize adh genes, the ARE regions and the intron of the recombinant promoter claimed in the patents in all three jurisdictions are not limited to the elements of the maize adh genes. Thus, the use of other ARE enhancer elements and introns might be protected by the claims of these patents. The prosecution histories of the patents might shed light on this aspect.
The patent information, a summary of the independent claims and the actual independent claims of each patent are presented in the following tables.
Patents on the ARE of maize ADH and maize aldolase promoters
Patent number |
Title, Independent Claims and Summary of Claims |
Assignee |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
US 5001060
|
Title – Plant Anaerobic regulatory element
|
Lubrizol EnterprisesInc. & CSIRO |
||
CA 1338858
|
Title – Plant Anaerobic regulatory element
|
Mycogen Plant Science Inc.& CSIRO |
||
EP 278658 B1
|
Title – Use of a plant anaerobic regulatory element
|
Lubrizol EnterprisesInc. & CSIRO |
||
Remarks | The granted Japanese patent JP 8826414 B2 assigned to Lubrizol Enterprises & CSIRO was not analyzed. The European patent has lapsed in Belgium (BE), France (FR), Gemany (DE), Netherlands (NL), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE) and UK. An application is pending in South Africa (ZA 8800320 A). |
Patents on the recombinant promoter pEMU
Patent number |
Title, Summary of Claims and Independent Claims |
Assignee |
|
---|---|---|---|
EP 459643 B1
|
Title – A recombinant promoter for gene expression in monocotyledonous plants
|
Mycogen Plant Science Inc. & CSIRO |
|
US 5290924
|
Title – Recombinant promoter for gene expression in monocotyledonous plants
|
CSIRO |
|
CA 2042831
|
Title – Recombinant promoter for gene expression in monocotyledonous plants
|
Lubrizol EnterprisesInc. & CSIRO |
|
Remarks |
The granted Australian patent (AU 643521 B2) has lapsed. The European patent registered in Denmark (DK), France (FR), Germany (DE), Italy (IT), and Spain (ES). A patent was also granted in Japan (JP 3325589 B2) and an application in China (CN 1063506) was withdrawn. |
Note: Patent information on this page was last updated on 13 March 2006.