Judge: No Gene Patents

March 31st, 2010 - 1 Comment

U.S. District Court ruled this week that seven patents related to two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer held by Myriad Genetics are invalid. The court sided with the ACLU and the Public Patent Foundation in ruling that the patents were “improperly granted” because they involved a “law of nature.”

Writing on the decision this week on his blog Incentivize!, Smeal’s Dan Cahoy says:

What is dramatic about this decision (a copy of which can be downloaded from the ACLU Web site) is that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet based his determination on a finding that claims drawn to purified DNA are mere products of nature that are not patentable.  If it were to stand on appeal, the decision would have a significant impact on the biotechnology industry, which has invested much in DNA patents.

Last year on this blog, Cahoy, a patent lawyer and associate professor of business law, outlined the case, saying that it highlights “aspects of our innovation system that many believe should be reformed”:

In the end, it is possible that this case will spark a change in the law regarding human gene patents.  In fact, it has gotten progressively harder to patent genes, but for reasons different than advanced in this case. … Whatever the outcome of this particular case, it’s yet another battle being fought over an innovation system that has been under attack for some time.  Intellectual property legal reform is a notoriously slow process, but this case may have pressed the accelerator down just a little bit more.

Tags: Business Law, Cahoy, Health Care

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One Response to “Judge: No Gene Patents”

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