Briefs	E-mail PagePrint Version

The US Department of Agriculture has unveiled a new online database of patents on inventions in biotechnology and other processes used in food and agriculture. The database, which allows customized searches, includes information about patents issued between 1976 and 2000. The Agricultural Biotechnology Intellectual Property database identifies and describes US utility patents on inventions in biotechnology and other biological processes - with issue dates between 1976 and 2000 - that are used in food and agriculture. The database also provides information about the ownership of these patents, whether patents are held in the public or private sector, and changes in patent ownership due to firm mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs. The database includes information on agricultural biotechnology utility patents, patent ownership information, and provides a system for technology classification. Besides containing more data than the previous version of this product, the new version of this database also includes an interface to facilitate access to the data and allow customizable searches. The database is accessible at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/AgBiotechIP/; and…

After several lean years, California cattle ranchers are reportedly enjoying their second consecutive year of record beef prices, a trend pushed by the nation's high-protein diet fad and a limited supply of beef, according to the California Department of Food & Agriculture. While ranchers say they're likely to bring more cattle to market next year, the high-price trend is expected to continue as demand increases in overseas markets. For consumers, it has meant higher prices for steak, ground beef and roast, but no one seems to mind as demand remains high. A case of mad cow disease discovered in Washington state in December 2003 and a subsequent ban on US beef exports in other countries sent a shiver through the cattle ranches of California's San Joaquin Valley. Nervous cattle producers imagined collapsing prices and frightened consumers, a fear that was at least partly realized when beef exports dropped 82%. Japanese trade negotiators announced last month that the country would be placing orders again for US-produced beef. Until the ban, Japan accounted for $1.4 billion of the $3.8 billion in total US beef exports.

Go back, or read the latest briefs:

TRADE

empty