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Supreme Court Limits Patents Based On Laws of Nature

Posted by Unknown on from the there-goes-my-falling-off-a-bridge-patent dept.

New submitter sed quid in infernos writes "The Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion yesterday holding that 'to transform an unpatentable law of nature into a patent-eligible application of such a law, a patent must do more than simply state the law of nature while adding the words "apply it."' The Court invalidated a patent on the process of adjusting medication dosage based on the levels of specific metabolites in the patient's blood. The opinion sets forth a process for determining patent eligibility for patent claims that include a law of nature. The court wrote that the "additional features" that show an application of the law must "provide practical assurance that the [claimed] process is more than a drafting effort." This language suggests that the burden will be on the patentee to prove that its limitations are more than patent attorney tricks.'"

3 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Cool ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm neither genetic engineer nor patent lawyer, but my guess would be that what is patentable here is transporting the gene from one species to another one.

    Not always. This, this, this, this ... all of them indicate that merely identifying the gene allows them to be patentable.

    Not create. Not move from one species to another. Merely identifying the existence of it.

    Sorry, but in my mind they're naturally occurring and have no business being patented.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  2. Re:Cool ... by wintercolby · · Score: 5, Informative

    While that may be profitable for Monsanto, it is horrible for our ecosystem. RoundupReady are genetically modified using e. coli bacteria to insert the genetic material. In order to verify that the genetic modification is successful, they also include the gene for penicillin immunity. Now we have massive numbers of organisms with the gene sequence necessary to be immune to penicillin, and more producers of GMO seeds means more genetic modifications in the wild. Monsanto has already come out with 2,4D (a component of agent orange) immune seed to prepare for the expiration of RoundupReady patents. It's also worth mentioning that a significant number of common weeds are immune to Roundup now.

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    Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. --Aldous Huxley
  3. Re:Patent by SuperAlgae · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=62&p=1095&g=1256&h=14868

    This pic is from 2006. Notice the red and black slider/switch on the side of the phone.