Patent Law Practice Center

The Clones War: Chapter Two – Myriad Files Their Brief on Appeal

The following guest post was written by Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch Partner Mark J. Nuell, Ph.D.

Myriad Genetics has filed their brief in their appeal of the decision in Assoc. of Med. Pathology et al. v. Myriad Genetics et al. This case is one having effect on patent-eligibility of claims directed to purified natural products and to sequence-based diagnostic methods.  Myriad’s brief is a paper of advocacy, and it is persuasive of an asserted lack of jurisdiction.  Thus, the Federal Circuit might not even reach the questions of patentability of isolated DNA and of nucleic acid (sequence)-based diagnostic methods.  But, should the Federal Circuit choose to consider those questions, it appears that claims to “isolated DNA” meet the standard for patent-eligibility.  Despite their arguments to the contrary, some of Myriad’s diagnostic method claims are likely to fail to meet the standard, as falling within the scope of abstract ideas or laws of nature.  The other method claims that are challenged, although they can be interpreted to include a “transformative” step and so include a strong clue in favor of patent-eligibility under Bilski v. Kappos, might be deemed ineligible for patent protection because the “transformative” steps represent mere data-gathering steps. (more…)