By
Donald Zuhn —

In
a press release
issued earlier this month, MPEG LA, LLC
announced that it was launching an initiative to enhance the availability of
gene patents for diagnostic testing. 
MPEG LA, which describes itself as the world's leading packager of
patent pools for standards and other technology platforms, would accomplish
this objective by creating a new gene patent pool.  Currently, MPEG LA has formed patent pools for MPEG-2, ATSC,
AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-4 Visual, MPEG-2 Systems, 1394, and MPEG-4 Systems, so the
company would be venturing outside of consumer electronics-related pools for
the first time in creating the gene patent pool.

MPEG
LA notes that it neither owns nor uses the patents in its pools, but rather
seeks to create markets for patents that maximize profits for the patent
holders and make utilization of patents affordable for manufacturers,
consumers, and other users.  According
to the company's press release, the new gene patent initiative will address
"the market's need for nonexclusive access to patents for diagnostic
genetics tests leading to personalized medical solutions that save lives and
reduce healthcare costs." 
While MPEG LA President and CEO Larry Horn described diagnostic genetics
testing as "hold[ing] great promise as a driver of precision therapy,"
he noted that patent thickets and restrictive licensing arrangements threaten the
delivery of such tests.  Pointing
to the recent decision in Association for
Molecular Pathology vs. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mr. Horn
contended that a solution that "balances social cost and open access with
innovation incentive" was needed.

MPEG
believes that by aggregating patent rights for existing and emerging tests that
may lead to personalized treatment for diseases and disorders such as hereditary
hearing loss in infants, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cardiovascular disease,
and Lynch syndrome, and licensing these patents nonexclusively for diagnostic
use, it can assist laboratories, testing companies and researchers in obtaining
the rights they need to design comprehensive diagnostic genetics tests, and as
a result, make such tests widely available through multiple channels at
affordable prices.