According to WTO rules, countries must either accept the WTO's stringent patent-protection regime forplant and animal products or set up their own systems for protection.
So the news that, last month, a group of American and Russian researchers received a patentfor an apomictic maize plant has probably caused a few flutters in seed-company boardrooms.
UMaine has filed a provisional patentfor the lobster-shell mixture, which can also be used for such products as plant pots that decompose in the ground, surveying stakes and other applications.