The NY Times reports that a federal judge on Monday struck down patents on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The decision, if upheld, could throw into doubt the patents covering thousands of human genes and reshape the law of intellectual property.
U.S. Judge Invalidates Human Gene Patent
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“Myriad Genetics, the company that holds the patents with the University of Utah Research Foundation, asked the court to dismiss the case, claiming that the work of isolating the DNA from the body transforms it and makes it patentable. ”
So, they claim they aren’t actually patenting the two genes, they are patenting transformed version of the genes? To me this would invalidate the work of the human genome project, as they cataloged not the human genome but some variation thereof… Or am I understanding the claim incorrectly?
They’re claiming that isolated DNA is “transformed”, so the not-found-in-nature requirement of a patent doesn’t apply to the genes.