Patent Law Practice Center

Australia Court: Isolated DNA Patent Eligible

The Federal Court of Australia issued a ruling recently that is directly opposite to the ruling rendered by the United States Supreme Court relative to gene patents. In Yvonne D’Arcy v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., the Federal Court of Australia ruled that Myriad’s claims to isolated DNA are patentable under the laws of Australia. That is the ruling the U.S. Supreme Court should have reached in Association of Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics. As the patent eligibility laws of the U.S. become increasingly inhospitable to high-tech innovative businesses, we can expect more job losses and worse news for the U.S. economy on the horizon.

Particularly interesting is that the Federal Court of Australia went out of their way to question the reasoning of the United States Supreme Court, and say that it is exceptionally difficult to reconcile Diamond v. Chakrabarty with AMP v. Myriad Genetics. I have previously written that AMP v. Myriad Genetics overrules the fundamental holding in Chakrabarty, with many disagreeing. I feel certain that my reading is correct, and the Federal Court of Australia agreed.

(more…)

Top 5 Patent Law Blog Posts of the Week

Today we continue our weekly installment highlighting the best of the patent blogosphere from the past week. If there are any patent blogs you think should be highlighted by our Top 5, please comment on this post and we’ll check them out.

1) IP Watchdog: The Smart Phone Patent Wars: What the FRAND is Going On? – Written by guest blogger, Raymond Millien, this post discusses the “Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory” (FRAND) licensing terms that various standard setting organizations require of their participants.

2) Patently-O: Gene Patents: AMP v. Myriad Genetics – This post reports on the Supreme Court vacating the Federal Circuit’s decision in AMP v. Myriad Genetics and ordering the appellate court to reconsider the case in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in Mayo v. Prometheus.

(more…)