Australia: Cancer Voices v Myriad Opinion Affirmed

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Warren Woessner

This is a guest post from Paul Cole.

An opinion was handed down earlier today by the Federal Court of Australia – Full Court (Allsop C.J., Downsett, Kenny, Bennett and Middleton J.J., D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc [2014] FCAFC 115 (5 September 2014))(1). In an outcome strikingly at variance with that before the US Supreme Court, it affirmed the opinion of Nicholas J. that claims for isolated nucleic acids are for a manner of manufacture for purposes of s.18(1)(a) of `Australian Patents Act 1990 and s.6 of the Statute of Monopolies (Cancer Voices Australia v Myriad Genetics Inc [2013] FCA 65 (15 February 2013)(2) [The links for footnoted items can be found at the end of the post.]

In its opening remarks, the Full Court held that expressions such as “the work of nature” or “the laws of nature” are not found in the statute, nor are they useful tools of analysis. Adopting the reasoning of Frankfurter J. in Funk Brothers Seed Company v Kalo Inoculant Company, [1948] USSC 22; 333 US 127 (1948), it confuses the issue to use such terms. They could fairly be employed to challenge almost any patent.

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101 Rejections Under the Guidelines: Mayo and Myriad “Go Viral”

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Warren Woessner

This is a guest post from Hans Sauer, Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property for BIO.

“Recently, I set out to find real-world examples of recent rejections under the USPTO Guidance, to do my own sampling rather than rely on reported anecdotes. In just two hours of not very systematic searching, I was able to identify dozens of cases that have these new rejections, and I have attached some of the more interesting ones for you. [These can be found at the end of this post.] I focused mainly on applications with product claims, and pulled up method claims only incidentally.

“As expected, these new “product of nature” rejections go far beyond nucleic acid claims. Interesting examples include multipart vaccine preparations, industrial enzymes, organic crop protection products, a pharmaceutical composition and method of treatment involving an anticancer molecule from a marine sponge, and even a method for washing laundry. We’re also now seeing rejections of monoclonal antibody claims, which is something we were worried would happen. Perusing the attached rejections only takes a half hour; it’s a quick way to get an impression of what’s going on.”

Scanned from a Xerox multifunction device

Scanned from a Xerox multifunction device[1]

Scanned from a Xerox multifunction device[2]

Scanned from a Xerox multifunction device[3]

 

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BIO IP & Diagnostics Symposium

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Warren Woessner

Warren Woessner will be moderating a panel on university-industry (from start-ups to big pharma) partnering in the area of companion diagnostics and personalized medicine at the BIO IP and Diagnostics Symposium, September 26th at the Alexandria Hilton. Since the first two sessions will discuss the disinclination of the Patent Office to issue any claims directed to diagnostic tests in view of Prometheus v. Mayo, it should be interesting to see how the future of claims to diagnostic testing will evolve – or if it will evolve within the patent system. As Yogi Berra said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” Has the era of the mass extinction of life science patents that began with UC v. Lilly and the Metabolite Labs. dissent  continue to gather momentum, until the only question to discuss is “What’s Left to Patent?”

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Takeaways from Seattle Summer 2014 Seminars

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Warren Woessner

A guest post by Donald Chisum and Janice Mueller.

In August 2014 the Chisum Patent Academy held two back-to-back seminars in its Seattle, Washington facility to discuss and debate current developments in patent law. Each roundtable seminar group was limited to ten persons; sessions were led by treatise authors and educators Donald Chisum and Janice Mueller.

Attendees included experienced patent litigators and prosecutors from law firms and corporations in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and India. Each seminar met for three days. Seattle’s great summer weather, coffee, and lively discussion were enjoyed by all.

Here’s a recap of the takeaways from the seminars:

▪ 2014 Supreme Court Decisions: Moderation? The year 2014 was an undoubtedly high water mark in terms of the number of pertinent SCOTUS patent law decisions–six directly on patent law issues plus a copyright case (Petrella) that could alter the laches defense for patent infringement claims. Commentary and initial responses, including those by the PTO, suggest that the cases represent a significant move toward constricting the availability of patent rights. Yet, in-depth discussions of the cases during our seminars detected a tone of moderation. For example, Alice has been read as broadly precluding patents on “software.” However, language in Alice strongly suggests that claims to technical advances, even broad claims that involve computer implementation, remain patent eligible. Unfortunately for patent applicants and owners, it will take time and resources to establish such eligibility through appeals from PTO rejections and summary district court invalidations.

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