Is Biotech Patentable Subject Matter?
In a breathtaking decision, the Federal Circuit has ruled that a patented method of making an automobile drive shaft is not eligible to be patented because it is “directed to a natural law.” In so ruling, the court has...more
Napoleon Hill once famously said, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” However, what the mind of man can conceive is not necessarily patentable. Courts have long held that laws of nature,...more
The Supreme Court issued an order this morning denying certiorari in Sequenom, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. Patent Docs will provide more analysis of the Court's denial of certiorari in a subsequent post....more
In March, following the Federal Circuit's denial of Sequenom's petition for rehearing en banc, Sequenom filed a petition for certiorari for Supreme Court review of the Federal Circuit's decision in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v....more
The biotechnology and life sciences community has voiced broad support for Sequenom’s recent request that the Supreme Court review the Federal Circuit’s decision holding Sequenom’s diagnostic fetal DNA patent ineligible under...more
In Ariosa Diagnostics Inc. v. Sequenom Inc., 788 F.3d 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2015), a Federal Circuit panel held that Sequenom Inc.’s prenatal diagnosis patent claims patent ineligible subject matter under the two-step test of Mayo...more
It's been one year since the Supreme Court's decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank. On its face the opinion was relatively conservative, cautioning courts to "tread carefully" before invalidating patents, and emphasizing that...more
At a time when patent application filings and litigation proceedings for computer-implemented inventions have reached all-time highs, this summer the U.S. Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated opinion addressing the...more
The third time is the charm in Ultramercial v. Hulu: After twice finding that an advertising method patent was directed to patent eligible subject matter, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s third Ultramercial...more
Is there a chain of reasoning that leads to the outcome in Myriad more shortly and directly than that outlined by Justice Thomas and without invoking judicial exceptions? It is strongly arguable that this is indeed the case...more
In a highly-anticipated case that had the potential to drastically change the patent landscape surrounding computer-implemented inventions, in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l the Supreme Court took a measured approach to the...more