These bills build on the patenting of seeds already occurring by extending the logic of patenting biological life to patenting genes, which is a proposition that was previously struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, the bills do not pass, as Congress affirms that natural phenomena and abstract ideas cannot be patented. The bill designers make the xenophobic claim that this ruling means the US is losing ground in technology innovations, particularly against China.

They assert that to remain competitive, the U.S. must allow for the patenting of genetic code and any modifications made to genes.