This year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two significant opinions that will impact patent protection in the life sciences arena for many years to come. Arguably, the court seesawed by strengthening patent protection in one opinion while weakening patent protection in the other by declaring that certain discoveries cannot be patented. Nonetheless, the court has provided valuable guidance to those who seek patent protection, and a close inspection of these two opinions — Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 133 S. Ct. 2107 (2013), and Bowman v. Monsanto Co., 133 S. Ct. 1761, rehearing denied, 2013 WL 3778991 (2013) — reveals that the court has adhered to the principle that innovation should be rewarded.
Myriad — Patent Eligibility of DNA Molecules
The first opinion that warrants analysis concerns the Myriad case. For years, patents have issued concerning “isolated DNA” molecules, and patent owners have claimed that they have protection over naturally occurring DNA molecules that have been isolated from a genome. In the closely watched Myriad case, the court addressed whether certain types of DNA molecules are patentable. Although the court determined that isolated DNA molecules are not patentable, it recognized that an inventor may patent certain types of DNA molecules.
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