Jorge Goldstein Celebrates Release of Patenting Life

Bethesda, Maryland (November 26, 2024) – Jorge Goldstein is pleased to share that his latest book, Patenting Life: Tales from the Front Lines of Intellectual Property and the New Biology is now available via Georgetown University Press. The book can be purchased from major retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Thriftbooks. 

Patenting Life, which is written in an approachable language as free from legal and technical jargon as possible, tells human stories. The book focuses on  the entrepreneurs, scientists, lawyers, and judges involved in the rise of biotechnology and its intellectual property. These protagonists and the legal battles that Goldstein fought on their behalf are at the core of this book.

Shortly after the emergence of genetic engineering in the 1970s, academic biologists were courted by venture capitalists and multinational companies. Researchers who understood the new biology of the time went from being merely curious about how the natural world functioned to realizing that they could profit from their newfound recognition. As they were inventing all sorts of newfangled organisms, biologists became acquainted with intellectual property.

Patenting Life provides insights into legal fights over patented microbes, virus-resistant crops, and the ownership of body parts. Goldstein discusses cases involving blockbuster biological drugs, aseptic mosquitoes, genetically engineered cows, and CRISPR, the modern gene-editing technology. He also addresses the perceived downsides of the patent system: the high prices of drugs, international access to COVID-19 vaccines and other medicines, and the ascent of genetically modified crops. Patenting Life will appeal to readers interested in science, technology, the business of research and development, and the legal systems underpinning these endeavors.

Legal experts and scholars alike have praised Patenting Life for its rigorous analysis presented in an accessible and engaging manner. Walter Isaacson, author of The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, writes, “Jorge Goldstein, one of the world's foremost biotech lawyers, takes us on a journey beginning with the creation of patent law in fifteenth-century Venice through the last fifty years of bioengineering. It's a tale filled with both fascinating legal cases as well as thorny ethical questions."

About Jorge Goldstein

Jorge Goldstein is a patent attorney trained in molecular biology who began his career on the ground floor of the biotechnology revolution forty years ago. He is a partner in Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein, and Fox, PLLC, and the author of the casebook U.S. Biotechnology Patent Law (9th edition 2024). He received a PhD in chemistry from Harvard University and a JD from George Washington University Law School.