The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a
new guidance document for Examiners on
March 4, 2014, effective immediately, describing revised procedures
for assessing subject matter eligibility of claims involving or
reciting laws of nature, natural principles, natural phenomena,
and/or natural products (hereinafter "2014
Guidelines"). The 2014 Guidelines are
intended to reflect changes to the law arising from recent
Supreme Court decisions in Association for Molecular Pathology
v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 569 U.S. _, 133 S. Ct. 2107, 2116,
106 USPQ2d 1972 (2013) ("Myriad"), and Mayo
Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 566
U.S. _,132 S. Ct. 1289, 101 USPQ2d 1961 (2012)
("Prometheus"). The Myriad decision,
which we have previously discussed, was limited to the
patent-eligibility of human DNA sequences. While acknowledging the
limitations of the Myriad decision, the USPTO argues that:
"[...] while the holding in Myriad was limited to
