Legal Elements of the “Ayahuasca” Patent Case

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), on behalf of COICA and the Amazon Coalition, is challenging Plant Patent No. 5,751 issued to Loren Miller for a variety of Banisteriopsis caapi called “Da Vine.” The challenge argues the patent is invalid because the plant's medicinal qualities were already known as “prior art” through indigenous use, its physical features are typical of the species, and it is found in an uncultivated state in the Amazon basin. Beyond this specific case, the authors argue that the U.S. patent system fails to recognize traditional knowledge systems and risks the appropriation of biological diversity without consent or compensation, urging the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to develop new principles to balance private rights with the public domain.

• The challenge to Plant Patent No. 5,751 argues that the patent is invalid because the medicinal and psychotherapeutic properties of Banisteriopsis caapi were already known to indigenous peoples for generations, constituting “prior art” under patent law.
• The patent is contested on the grounds that the physical features claimed as distinctive are actually typical of the species and that the plant grows naturally in the Amazon basin, violating the legal requirement that plant patents cannot be awarded to plants “found in an uncultivated state.”
• The authors argue that the patent violates moral and cultural values by attempting to privatize a plant held sacred by indigenous peoples, noting that the PTO can deny patents deemed “injurious to the well being, good policy, or good morals of society.”
• The document asserts that the U.S. patent system struggles to recognize contributions from traditional knowledge systems and that biological diversity is being appropriated for patented technologies without adequate compensation or consent.

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} }