Gerald J. Flattmann J. Flattmann, Jr.

Gerald J. Flattmann

Abstract

The new genetic technologies available to conservation biologists pose complex and profound questions scarcely contemplated when the existing legal framework was enacted. We examine relevant laws and consider whether they can adequately accommodate the broad range of legal and moral issues raised by those technologies. In particular, we consider the likely impact on new genetic technologies of existing laws concerning intellectual property and the preservation of biodiversity. Specifically, we assess the patentability of whole organism somatic clones of endangered and previously extinct species, and consider whether creating ownership interests in cloned species is consistent with the aims of landmark conservation legislation. We further consider whether somatic cloning of whole organisms would ultimately advance or subvert the aims of the Endangered Species Act and similar international laws and whether the introduction of cloned species into the wild or the marketplace would be impacted by a host of other laws and regulations, such as environmental protection laws, the Food, Drug & Cosmetics Act, and the National Forest Management Act. Finally, we consider whether meaningful legal protection exists (or should exist) under the Copyright Act and trade secrecy law for the new "libraries" of conservation biology, such as frozen tissue collections and bioinformatics databases. .

Biography

Gerald J. Flattmann, Jr., is a partner at the intellectual property law firm of Fish & Neave in New York City. He was born in New Orleans in 1967. In 1989, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Yale University. In 1992, he received his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. He has extensive experience in all aspects of patent litigation, prosecution, licensing, and counseling. Mr. Flattmann's primary focus is biotechnology patent litigation. Over the years, he has represented clients at the cutting edge of their technologies, such as AT&T, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Biogen, Inc., Lucent Corp., Schering Plough Corp., and Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. In addition to representing clients, Mr. Flattmann speaks regularly on topics relating to patent litigation and the protection of intellectual property. He is an active member of the Committee on Patents of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, an organization that proposes and supports reforms and improvements in our patent laws.

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