Nearly five years ago the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) decided the controversial case of Ariosa v. Sequenom. In Sequenom the invention was a radically new method of fetal genetic testing by amplifying free paternal DNA from the mother’s blood. This test has today largely replaced the previous method of
For the First Time, a Medical Treatment Patent Is Ruled Invalid Under Mayo/Myriad
As discussed in a previous blog post, since Mayo v. Prometheus, critics of medical treatment patents have advocated that such patents should be banned from patenting. While such arguments seemed futile based on the consistent position taken by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) that treating a disease or
Detecting Disease Is Not a “Tangible and Useful Result” Eligible for Patenting
The federal appeals court with jurisdiction over questions of patent law has consistently held that methods of diagnosing a disease or other biological condition violate the Supreme Court’s ban on patenting “natural phenomena.” A recent decision reaffirmed this position (in the veterinary sphere), and for the first time in many years clearly articulated the test