Legal Elements of the “Ayahuasca” Patent Case

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) details a legal challenge to Plant Patent No. 5,751, issued to Loren Miller for a variety of the Amazon rainforest plant Banisteriopsis caapi (used to make ayahuasca). The challenge, supported by COICA and the Amazon Coalition, argues the patent is invalid because the plant's medicinal properties and physical features are already known as 'prior art' and the plant exists in an uncultivated state. Beyond this specific case, the authors call for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to review how traditional knowledge and biological diversity are treated under patent law to prevent the appropriation of indigenous resources without consent.

• The challenge to Plant Patent No. 5,751, issued to Loren Miller on June 17, 1986, for a variety of Banisteriopsis caapi called "Da Vine," is based on the claim that the plant does not meet the legal requirements for a plant patent under 35 U.S.C. § 161.
• The request for reexamination argues that the patent is invalid because the medicinal qualities of B. caapi were already known to indigenous people for generations, and its physical features are typical of the species as documented in herbarium records, meaning they constitute "prior art."
• The legal challenge asserts that the patent violates the law because the plant grows naturally throughout the Amazon basin and is therefore "found in an uncultivated state."
• The authors argue that the patent should be denied on moral and cultural grounds, citing a PTO Media Advisory from April 1, 1998, which suggests patents can be denied if they are "injurious to the well being, good policy, or good morals of society."
• CIEL, COICA, and the Amazon Coalition have urged the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to establish principles and procedures to protect traditional knowledge and biological diversity, noting that the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes such information as a heritage of the countries and communities where it is found.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (1999). Legal Elements of the “Ayahuasca” Patent Case. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ayahuascalegalelements.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Legal Elements of the “Ayahuasca” Patent Case. 1999. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ayahuascalegalelements.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Legal Elements of the “Ayahuasca” Patent Case |date=30 March 1999 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ayahuascalegalelements.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw1999legal, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Legal Elements of the “Ayahuasca” Patent Case}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {1999}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ayahuascalegalelements.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }