
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994                   TAG: 9409230104
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HOUSE OKS BIOTECH PATENT BILL

A bill to reform patent protection for biotechnology innovators passed the House of Representatives Wednesday, said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, its lead sponsor.

The biotechnology bill now goes to a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences between versions passed by the two chambers.

Boucher said the bill would help U.S. inventors by clearing up a series of "confusing and inconsistent court cases" dealing with biotechnology-related patents.

"Our measure is an important step toward increasing American competitiveness, promoting industrial innovation and enhancing fair trade," Boucher said.

Biotechnology is the large-scale, commercial production of substances that occur naturally. Research in the field has produced drugs to dissolve blood clots in heart attack victims, to treat anemia and to reduce the need for blood transfusions for people suffering from chronic kidney failure, Boucher said.

Boucher is a member of the House Science and Technology Committee. He chairs its Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee.

The six-term representative is running for re-election against Republican Steve Fast of Tazewell, who is on leave from his job as mathematics-department coordinator at Bluefield College.

by CNB