Patent Halted for Traditionally Used Amazon Hallucinogenic Plant
11/5/99
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Hallucinogenic Plant Patent Halted
Source: Associated Press Writer
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 5, 1999
Byline: David Ho
WASHINGTON -- A California businessman is decrying the suspension of his 13-
year-old patent on a hallucinogenic plant because of a challenge by South
American groups that claim the plant is sacred to Indians. "We remain totally
confident that our patent is valid, and we are absolutely confident this
frivolous challenge is doomed to failure," Loren Miller said in a statement. In
1986, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Miller patent No. PP5,751 for
a plant described in his patent abstract as "Da Vine" and characterized by its
"medicinal properties." The plant, Banisteriopsis Caapi, a vine found in the
Amazonian rain forests, is used to make a mind-altering drink known as
ayahuasca, pronounced eye-ah-wah-ska. While used by South American Indians for
religious and healing ceremonies, the plant has often been sought by
anthropologists, botanists and drug enthusiasts interested in its psychoactive
properties.
The Patent Office suspended the patent Thursday because of evidence the plant
had been described in publications more than a year before Miller applied for
the patent. The suspension prohibits him from exercising his patent rights for
six months, said Patent Offfice spokeswoman Brigid Quinn. The patent would be
permanently rejected if he fails to present additional evidence within six
months. The Center for International Environmental Law and two Amazonian groups
challenged the patent, saying the law under which it was granted is flawed. "The
PTO needs to change its rules to prevent future patent claims based on the
traditional knowledge and use of a plant by indigenous peoples," David Downes, a
lawyer for the challenging groups, said in a statement. In the 1971 book "The
Yage Letters," beat-generation writers Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs
described their often-frightening episodes under ayahuasca's influence in
Colombia and Peru in the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, ayahuasca use has spread
beyond the rain forest. Many Internet sites now exist dedicated to describing
its effects.