DNA Patents

November 7, 2014

Federal Court to Hear Challenge to the Patentability of Isolated Nucleic Acids

Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario v University of Utah Research Foundation, T-2249-14 - The CHEO will argue that the Long QT Patents that are inhibiting its ability to conduct medical testing claim unpatentable subject matter since the claimed nucleic acids are naturally occurring, encode for naturally occurring human genes, and were discovered by extracting genetic material from human beings. Validity of the method testing claims are also disputed.
October 20, 2014

Australian Federal Court Upholds Patentability of Isolated DNA Sequences, Parts Ways with Supreme Court of the United States

D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc [2014] FCAFC 115 - The Federal Court of Australia Full Court upheld the validity of Australian Patent No. 686004, which claims an isolated sequence of DNA useful for cancer diagnosis, as qualifying as a “manner of manufacture” and thus patentable subject matter pursuant to section 6 of the Statute of Monopolies.