A U.S. magazine says a rivalry has developed over gaining patent rights to commercially clone dogs.

The U.S. foreign affairs magazine Foreign Policy said that there is heated competition in the dog cloning business after disgraced Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk entered into a partnership with California-based biotech firm, BioArts International.

The magazine explained that he is now in a rivalry against his former colleague, Lee Byeong-chun, who recently made a worldwide licensing agreement with Seoul-based biotech company RNL Bio to produce cloned dogs.

Hwang, once considered a national hero, fell from grace when his team reported in 2004 that it had cloned human embryos and stem cells. Those claims were found to be fraudulent.