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Regulatory Focus™ > News Articles > After Prometheus Case, SCOTUS Sends Gene Patent Ruling Back to Lower Court

After Prometheus Case, SCOTUS Sends Gene Patent Ruling Back to Lower Court

Posted 27 March 2012

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled Monday (26 March) to send a case by Myriad Genetics Inc. back to a lower court for review in light of its recent decision, Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, in which the court decided Prometheus's patents on methods to determine the proper dosing for a disease were invalid.

In Association for Molecular pathology v. Myriad Genetics, SCOTUS was to consider whether patents held by Myriad on the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 were valid under the law. Its ruling in Prometheus was predicated on the notion that scientifically observable natural phenomena are not patentable, reports Reuters.

Monday's ruling sends the case back to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for further review, which may ultimately delay SCOTUS from ruling on it for several more years.

Reuters - Myriad gene patent ruling sent back to lower court

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News - Lawyers Offer Predictions for Myriad, Diagnostic Field Based on Supreme Court's Decision Against Prometheus

The Boston Herald - Supreme Court throws out human gene patents

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