Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Quigg

900 F.2d 195 14 U.S.P.Q.2d 1485 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, a non-profit corporation, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Donald J. QUIGG, as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Commissioner of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, C. William Verity, as Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Defendants-Appellees. No. 89-15129. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 15, 1990. Decided April 6, 1990. Joyce S.A. Tischler, Animal Legal Defense Fund, San Rafael, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants. John F. Daly, Civ. Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before SNEED, FARRIS and FERNANDEZ, Circuit Judges. FARRIS, Circuit Judge: 1 The Animal Legal Defense Fund and other animal rights and farming groups, as well as two individual farmers, seek to invalidate a rule issued by the Commissioner of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Donald Quigg, which stated that genetically altered animals are patentable subject matter. Plaintiffs base their claim on the APA, alleging that the Commissioner was required to, and did not…