Phyllis wrote, "From reading that press release, I understood their statement
to be that human milk is the standard for DHA. What I forsee is a "required"
supplement for pregnant mothers to make sure their diet is sufficient in
DHA/ARA, because of course you can't trust mom "to be compliant" enough to
eat right. :-{
I need to read the patent itself for better info than the press release
provides and to find out which govt agency has the financial interest."

I am confused.  There is no press release regarding the patent application I
posted about.  The patent application is about making an infant formula
specifically for the breastfed infant that contains DHA and AA.  This patent
application states, "The US Government has a paid-up license in this invention and
the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others
on reasonable terms as provided for by terms of Grant No. HD22380 awarded by
the National Institute of Health."

The patent application can be viewed at
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

(right side has patent applications and the number for this application is
#20040048926)

The government agency that has the financial interest is the one that is in
charge of the NIH--the Department of Health.  The NIH awarded the grant to
Hoffman et al., thus ultimately it is the US Department of Health that has an
interest in this patent like it has an interest in the patent on human lactoferrin
to inactivate hiv/aids.

It has been obvious to me for some time that the US Government's interest in
breastfeeding is merely token.  On the other hand its interest in human milk
and the gene constructs of its components is enormous.   I believe that this
particular patent application has a very high probability of becoming a patent.
Exclusive breastfeeding with formulas geared for the weaning of the breastfed
infant will mean what to breastfeeding??? And to add insult to injury, our
breastfeeding profession has a code of ethics that establishes our respect and
acknowledgement of this patenting.  I think our profession has just been taken
over the cliff........
Valerie W. McClain, breastfeeding advocate
Paradise Lost, Florida

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