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Category: Patentable Subject Matter
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By Donald Zuhn — Reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its fourth annual list of top biotech/pharma patent stories. For 2010, we identified a dozen stories that we 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 — In its recent decision in Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Services, the Federal Circuit cited and distinguished its earlier decision in In re Grams, 888 F.2d 835 (Fed. Cir. 1989). A review of the Grams case proves informative, both in understanding the Federal Circuit's reasoning and in better outlining…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — On Friday, the Federal Circuit continued its explication of the metes and bounds of patent-eligible subject matter after the Supreme Court's Bilski v. Kappos decision by revisiting (and reconsidering) its decision in Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Services. The Court in its earlier decision had reversed a District Court…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week marked the deadline for the submission of amicus curiae briefs in support of Plaintiffs-Appellees or in support of neither party in the Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("Myriad") case (briefs in support of Defendants-Appellants were due on October 29). With the help of Patent…
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By Donald Zuhn — In an amicus brief filed on October 28 in the Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("Myriad") case, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. supports reversal of the District Court's decision and asks the Federal Circuit "to provide clear guidance on patent-eligibility to remove the unnecessary cloud cast by the…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — One of the arguments advanced by the plaintiffs in Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("Myriad") is that a pernicious effect of permitting patents on genes and genetic diagnostic methods is that women cannot obtain a "second opinion" of the results of genetic tests showing mutations…
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By Donald Zuhn — On October 22, Defendants-Appellants Myriad Genetics, Inc. and ten Directors of the University of Utah Research Foundation filed their brief in Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (see "Myriad Files Appeal Brief in AMP v. USPTO"). Pursuant to Rule 29(e) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure,…
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By James DeGiulio — In another amicus brief filed in late October in the Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("Myriad") case, Prof. J. Jeffrey Hawley and Prof. Ann McCrackin, writing on behalf of amicus University of New Hampshire School of Law, criticize Judge Sweet's District Court decision substantively and procedurally. …
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By Kevin E. Noonan — One of the more unusual aspects of the Supreme Court's Bilski v. Kappos decision was its direction, towards the end of the majority opinion, that the Federal Circuit develop its case law on what would constitute an "abstract idea" for purposes of patent eligibility. After a decade of using the…
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By Donald Zuhn — In one of nine amicus briefs filed in late October in the Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("Myriad") case, amici Rosetta Genomics Ltd., Rosetta Genetics, Inc., and George Mason University focus solely on the patentability of Myriad's isolated DNA claims, and conclude that "isolated DNA composition…
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