A global campaign to overturn a US patent on basmati rice has scored a major victory with the announcement that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has thrown out 13 of 16 remaining claims from US-based RiceTec's controversial patent. John J Doll, the director of biotechnology examination at the USPTO, himself examined and rejected 13 claims from the patent. He judged that the rice lines, plants and grains that the company claimed in the application were prior art or substantially identical to basmati varieties grown in India and Pakistan, and hence could not be patented.