Biotechnology patent challenged: ex-colleague seeks share of the credit

Dr. Robert Helling, supported by the University of Michigan, has decided to press a claim to co-ownership of two Cohen-Boyer genetic engineering patents assigned to Stanford and the University of California. This decision will likely delay further the issuing of the second patent, tentatively rejected by the Patent Office in part on the basis of Helling's unresolved role. It may also increase pressure for a re-examination of the first patent issued in 1980.