In re Chakrabarty

RICH, Judge.

This appeal by an applicant for a patent, assignor to General Electric Company, is from a decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) Board of Appeals (board) affirming the rejection of claims 7-9, 13, 15, 17, 21, and 24-26 of application serial No. 260,563, filed June 7, 1972, entitled “Microorganisms Having Multiple, Compatible Degradative Energy-Generating Plasmids and Preparation Thereof.” We reverse.

The Invention

In view of the legal issue presented, it is unnecessary to describe in detail the subject matter of the appealed claims, which is described in…