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Legal:

One legal issue is in regard to the mandatory labeling on food containers identifying if that product is genetically modified. In the GMO labeling bill that congress passed, food companies must disclose GMOs but without necessarily using a GMO label on packaging. Companies have several disclosure options, including using a QR code on packaging that customers could then scan with a smartphone to learn more. Some do not think that this bill is sufficient for what they are asking for. Those who demand GM food be labeled, argue that the bill does not allow the customer to easily read if a food is genetically modified or not. In contrast, food companies and farm groups say that pro-labeling groups are trying to use labels to drive consumers away from GMOs - a tactic that worked in Europe.

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There have been multiple lawsuits over the right to commercialize the products of recombinant DNA technology as well as the intellectual property rights to the technology itself. Initial legal battles around GMOs centered largely on whether genetically modified organisms were patentable. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the federal agency responsible for issuing patents, has itself struggled with whether genes and the products of recombinant DNA technology are patentable.

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