Austin Firm Wants Korean Company to Quit Monkeying Around with Dogs

An Austin company controlling the technology that created Dolly the sheep and other genetic breakthroughs yesterday issued a not-so-subtle warning against a Korean agency that recently unveiled a new dog cloning service.

For about the price of a modestly-configured Aston Martin, South Korea's RNL Bio Co. is happy to bring back your beloved pooch from the afterlife. The biotech firm recently announced that it would start services in April.

Not so fast, replied Start Licensing, Inc. in yesterday's press release. A joint venture of two biopharmaceutical/biotechnology companies that launched in 2005, Start manages and licenses what they describe as a "broad portfolio of intellectual property rights related to animal reproductive technologies"—in other words, if Popeye's one day decided to breed extra-large-breasted, sixteen-legged chickens (and honestly, who wouldn't if they could?), you'd better bet that Start would get a cut of that action.

Start now claims that it holds two crucial patents in Korea that cover the technology needed to clone dogs, and won't stand idly by while RNL rakes in the millions from carbon-copied catahoulas and the like.

"Start will protect its patent rights," warned Jonathan Thatcher, President of Start Licensing. "We will take all necessary actions and pursue every available legal remedy to do so."