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Category: Patentable Subject Matter
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By Kevin E. Noonan — In a decision he has waited six years to write (having dissented from the Court's decision not to decide similar issues in Laboratory Corp. v. Metabolite Labs., Inc. in 2006), Justice Breyer (and a unanimous Court) overturned the Federal Circuit's decision that diagnostic method claims are eligible for patenting under…
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By Donald Zuhn — Following the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., issued earlier today, in which the Court reversed the Federal Circuit and found Prometheus' claims to be invalid for "effectively claim[ing] underlying laws of nature," few organizations have thus far decided to issue public statements regarding the…
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By Kwame Mensah — In an opinion published earlier today, the Supreme Court unanimously held that claims directed to the relationship between the concentrations of blood metabolites and response to a therapeutic drug in two patents owned by Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. were unpatentable, stating that they "effectively claim the underlying laws of nature themselves." This…
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By Donald Zuhn — Reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its fifth annual list of top biotech/pharma patent stories. For 2011, we identified a dozen stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe had (or are likely to have) the greatest impact on biotech/pharma patent…
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By Donald Zuhn — Reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its fifth annual list of top biotech/pharma patent stories. For 2011, we identified a dozen stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe had (or are likely to have) the greatest impact on biotech/pharma patent…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — It should come as no surprise that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Public Patent Foundation (PubPat) filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Two questions were presented: 1. Are human genes patentable? 2. Did the court of appeals err in adopting a new…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. The case represents the "other side" of the current foment regarding patent eligibility for methods and reagents related to what can broadly be termed "life sciences" patenting (the other, of course, being the…
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By Martin O'Brien — The patentability of genetic materials has been the subject of considerable community debate in Australia and elsewhere in recent years. Several inquiries have been held in Australia, including the Senate Gene Patents Report (24 November 2010), the 2011 ACIP Report on Patentable Subject Matter, and the 2004 Australian Law Reform Commission's…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — Sometimes the U.S. and Europe seem to be on diametrically opposed trajectories when it comes to patent policy. One such moment was in the 1980's, when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office responded to the Supreme Court's Diamond v. Chakrabarty decision by permitting broad patenting of biotechnological inventions while Europeans…
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By Devanand Crease — The Court of Justice of the European Union has issued its final verdict in the case of Bruestle v Greenpeace (C‑34/10) and has finally put an end to the long running saga of whether or not human embryonic stem (ES) cells can be subject to patent protection in Europe. The case…
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