Empirically – special carveouts for semiconductors undermined IP law and created years of uncertainty and litigation

Others have suggested creating a special statutory regime for gene patents akin to what has been done for computer chips within copyright law.343 However, this proposal would likely run into many of the same issues that plagued the computer chips legislation. Specifically, critics point out that copyright law was too slow to adapt to computer chip technology and was ultimately a poor fit.344 This shortcoming seems almost certain to also apply to the complex and rapidly developing field of human genetics. Further, whatever regime Congress could manage to craft may then immediately be open to challenges as the specifics of this new field of law are fleshed out, likely requiring years of litigation and uncertainty before a semblance of stability emerges for gene patents.