Tag Archives: Cleveland Clinic

Illumina v. Ariosa – The “Bucket” to Be In

Today, a divided Fed. Cir. panel reversed the district court’s decision invalidating the claim of two Illumina patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,580,751 and 9,738,931, as directed to a natural phenomenon (Illumina, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., Appeal No. 2019-1419 (Fed. … Continue reading

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Athena III – Should the Discovery of a Naturally-Occurring Correlation Encompass Recognition of its Practical Utility?

The origin of the idea that natural phenomena, like the law of gravity, cannot be patented, even by their discoverer, is well-settled law. In Gottschalk v. Benson, the Supreme Court stated, in dictum: “Phenomena of nature, though just discovered, mental … Continue reading

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Athena’s Petition for Rehearing En Banc – Not All Diagnostic Claims are Equal Under s. 101

In my last post on s. 101, discussing “Cleveland Clinic II” I asked, “Why can’t a diagnostic conclusion be a practical application of a natural law?” and rhetorically answered: “Because the Federal Circuit says it can’t.” In Cleveland Clinic I … Continue reading

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Athena v. Mayo Part II – Iancu v. The Federal Circuit(?)

The 2019 Revised Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance published on January 7th purported to revise the procedures for determining whether a patent claim or patent application claim is “directed to a judicial exception (laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas) … Continue reading

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