Patent Law

S.1565 on California's CIRM

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

Governor Schwarzenegger has until Sept. 30 to act on S-1565 (designed to ensure affordable access to stem cell therapies developed as a result of state funding arising from CIRM). Otherwise it will go into effect without his signature. He could veto it. An override of the veto would seem remote even though the bill passed overwhelmingly. No negative votes were recorded until the measure hit the Assembly and then only a handful. It finally went to the governor after the Senate on Aug. 29 concurred, 37-1, in Assembly amendments.

IPBiz notes that the issues with S-1565 arise from the tension between Proposition 71 as a "funding for basic research" vs. "funding for cures." It is unlikely that the funding for CIRM will lead to any cures in the ten year time span, and things like S-1565 are just going to accentuate that reality. Even at this late date, CIRM hasn't tied down its IP policy.

Full post as published by IPBiz on September 03, 2008 (boomark / email).