Beagles scored a victory on May 27 when the UT System and MD Anderson Cancer Center cancelled their patent for research on the live dogs.
In February, the American Anti-Vivisection Society and the International Center for Technology Assessment asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reexamine a patent allowing medical testing on beagles.
While AAVS celebrated the effectiveness of its legal action, MD Anderson said other factors caused it to cancel the patent.
"We withdrew the patent because it was commercially not viable. It was not due to legal pressure," said July Penne, an MD Anderson spokeswoman.
After filing for the patent on Aug. 18, 2000, the UT System licensed the patent to MD Anderson. Researchers there exposed the dogs to pulmonary fungal infections, or lung infections, to find a cure and its applications for humans.
"We're very happy [UT] dropped its claims to the patent," said AAVS spokeswoman Crystal Miller-Spiegel.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also voiced its support, calling the cancellation a victory for animal rights.
The beagle patent is one of 500 patents for live animal testing issued since the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office first allowed them in 1987. Recently, new rules have been passed that allow anyone to request a reexamination of a patent. Miller-Spiegel said that the organization chose to start its legal challenges on live testing with the beagle patent because it was legally weak.
"The AAVS is against using any animals for experimental purposes, and we are currently looking at other patents as egregious as beagles," she said.
The UT Animal Research Center said the University obtained the patent but did not carry out any experiments on the dogs.
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