Gene Patents at Risk in Information Age
Recent Court Decisions Could Affect Patentability of Isolated Sequences and Dx
Published in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News:
Legal Affairs: Apr 1, 2011 (Vol. 31, No. 7)
Gene patents have been issued in the United States for decades, however, a decision from the Southern District of New York in March 2010 put them on the chopping block of patentable subject matter.
The decision comes in the middle of a growing debate over the boundaries of patentable subject matter in what the U.S. Supreme Court recently dubbed the "Information Age," where inventions pertaining to information in its various forms resemble less and less the devices patented in earlier eras.