Isolated Nucleic Acids Are Patentable-Is The Debate Over?

Recently, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in the Myriad case (The Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Myriad Genetics, Inc. and Lorris Betz, et al., (No. 2010-1406 (Fed. Cir. July 29, 2011)) held that isolated DNA was patentable subject matter, overturning a highly controversial lower court decision ruling that claims directed to isolated DNA were unpatentable. The CAFC ruling reaffirms the long-standing, decades-old practice by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in allowing such claims, which are in thousands of issued patents. Patent owners and applicants, particularly in the biotechnology and genomics fields, should feel a renewed confidence in obtaining, enforcing and investing in patents claiming isolated genes.