Indeed, the patenting of genetically modified or isolated viruses is nothing new, says David Schwartz, a patent lawyer and partner at the Canadian intellectual property firm Smart & Biggar.
"You can’t patent a disease condition per se, such as cancer or influenza," says Schwartz. "But if you’re talking about patenting a lifeform like a bacteria or virus, if altered by man, the answer there is yes."
You can’t patent something that is naturally occurring, he says, but if an organism is modified in some way, it is patentable.