1) Incyte Genomics pursued an ambitious business model and patent strategy in the late 1990s and early 2000s that involved sequencing the human genome, patenting gene sequences, and selling subscriptions to genomic databases and licensing the patents. 2) A key part of the strategy was filing over 2,000 patent applications covering about 11,000 human gene sequences to generate licensing revenues, but this strategy faced challenges from the US Patent Office's utility requirement. 3) In 2004, Incyte abandoned its original business model and patent strategy after the US Patent Office rejected many of its patent applications for lack of demonstrating utility and specific and substantial real world use for the gene sequences.