Patenting Genomics Innovations: Post-Myriad Challenges and Possibilities

• Published in: Journal of commercial biotechnology Vol. 23; no. 1; p. 55
• Main Author: Chatterjee, Tuhin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London thinkBiotech LLC 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Amino acid sequence; Biotechnology; Decision making; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Federal court decisions; Genes; Genomes; Genomics; Homology; Human Genome Project; Intellectual property; Interpretation and construction; Laws, regulations and rules; Nucleotide sequence; Patent law; Pathology; Protein structure; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1462-8732; 1478-565X
• DOI: 10.5912/jcb773

Patenting gene and its nucleotide sequence has been a controversial subject since the release of working draft of the Human Genome Project. A number of US Supreme Court judgments pronounced in the recent past and accordingly revised patent examination strategies of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) created a huge confusion in the field of biotechnology.The present article explores the volatile nature of judicial decision-making in modern biotechnology arena and attempts to analyze and gauge the practical impact of the landmark judgment of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad genetics Inc. The present article also reveals how the Myriad judgment changed the USPTO’s long-standing practice of granting patents on isolated DNA molecules and set a new patent-eligibility standard for genes and DNA related innovations.The present article also endeavors to investigate the challenges and possibilities of patenting isolated proteins, sequence homology and protein three-dimensional structure based innovations in post-Myriad US patent regime.