Moving Past Mayo: US Diagnostic Methods Patents In 2022

It has been ten years since the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Mayo v. Prometheus. In that unanimous decision, the Court invalidated and made ineligible patent claims directed to medical diagnostic methods. It is tempting to use this anniversary as an opportunity to restate the myriad of legal flaws in a decision that has measurably damaged the biotechnology investment landscape. However, while such a rhetorical take-down might earn me some words of agreement or encouragement from like-minded readers, it would be like a fire that provides heat but no light. So instead, and with a ten-year perspective of patenting (or trying to patent) medical diagnostic methods in a post-Mayo world, here is a view of where we are and where we might be going.