<div dir="ltr">You mean, common sense prevailed at SCOTUS? What next, no patents for Monsanto??? If only...<br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 8:03 AM, Eddan Katz <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:eddan@clear.net" target="_blank">eddan@clear.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div>The Supreme Court opinion on the Myriad Genetics case about the BRCA1 & BRCA2 patents is out. Great news for science and medicine. Opinion was 9-0, invalidating the patent Myriad used to exercise a monopoly over breast cancer diagnostic tests.</div>
<div> </div><blockquote type="cite"><div><span><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-398_8njq.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-398_8njq.pdf</a></span><br><span></span><br>
<span>Held: "A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature andnot patent eligible merely because it has been isolated, but cDNA ispatent eligible because it is not naturally occurring."</span><br></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div>From the introductory summary --<br><div>
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<p></p><blockquote type="cite"><p><span style="font-size:9.000000pt;font-family:'CenturySchoolbook'">Each human gene is encoded as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which
takes the shape of a “double helix.” Each “cross-bar” in that helix
consists of two chemically joined nucleotides. Sequences of DNA nu-
cleotides contain the information necessary to create strings of amino
acids used to build proteins in the body. The nucleotides that code
for amino acids are “exons,” and those that do not are “introns.” Sci-
entists can extract DNA from cells to isolate specific segments for
study. They can also synthetically create exons-only strands of nu-
cleotides known as composite DNA (cDNA). cDNA contains only the
exons that occur in DNA, omitting the intervening introns.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:9.000000pt;font-family:'CenturySchoolbook'">Respondent Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Myriad), obtained several patents after discovering the precise location and sequence of the
BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, mutations of which can dramatically in-
crease the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. This knowledge allowed
Myriad to determine the genes’ typical nucleotide sequence, which, in
turn, enabled it to develop medical tests useful for detecting muta-
tions in these genes in a particular patient to assess the patient’s
cancer risk. If valid, Myriad’s patents would give it the exclusive
right to isolate an individual’s BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and would
give Myriad the exclusive right to synthetically create BRCA cDNA.
Petitioners filed suit, seeking a declaration that Myriad’s patents are
invalid under 35 U. S. C. §101. As relevant here, the District Court
granted summary judgment to petitioners, concluding that Myriad’s
claims were invalid because they covered products of nature. The
Federal Circuit initially reversed, but on remand in light of </span><span style="font-size:9.000000pt;font-family:'CenturySchoolbook,Italic'">Mayo
Collaborative Services </span><span style="font-size:9.000000pt;font-family:'CenturySchoolbook'">v. </span><span style="font-size:9.000000pt;font-family:'CenturySchoolbook,Italic'">Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.</span><span style="font-size:9.000000pt;font-family:'CenturySchoolbook'">, 566 U. S. ___,
the Circuit found both isolated DNA and cDNA patent eligible. </span></p></blockquote>
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