Neither Lacks nor her family gave permission to harvest the cells but, at that time, permission was neither required nor customarily sought.[15] The cells were later commercialized, although never patented in their original form. There was no requirement at that time (or at present) to inform patients or their relatives about such matters because discarded material or material obtained during surgery, diagnosis, or therapy was the property of the physician or the medical institution. This issue and Lacks' situation were brought up in the Supreme Court of California case of Moore v. Regents of the University of California.