Foley & Lardner LLP (JD Supra Australia)

In a decision underscoring that the U.S. stands (nearly) alone in holding most diagnostic methods to be not eligible for patenting, the Federal Court of Australia upheld Sequenom’s Australian patent directed to prenatal diagnostic methods that involve detecting fetal DNA in maternal blood samples. Those working to reform U.S. patent eligibility law might want to consult this decision for guidance.

The Australian Patent Office (IP Australia) has issued final patent eligibility guidance under the Australian High Court’s decision in D’Arcy v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. Where the USPTO extrapolated from the U.S. Supreme Court decision when it promulgated its patent eligibility guidance, IP Australia seems to have taken a more conservative approach. This means that despite similar rulings against...

Colleagues in Australia have been spreading the bad news: The High Court of Australia followed the lead (?) of the U.S. Supreme Court and determined that Myriad cannot patent the isolated BRCA1 gene in Australia. Thanks to Adam Denley, Ph.D., Senior Associate at Freehills Patent Attorneys, for providing the article below on the October 6, 2015 decision which seems to invalidate Australian gene...

The Full Federal Court of Australia affirmed that isolated nucleic acids, i.e. whether it be DNA or RNA, are patentable subject matter in Australia. While an appeal to the High Court of Australia may be possible, absent an appeal, isolated nucleic acids will remain patentable subject matter, unless it is excluded by an amendment to the Patents Act. Presently we are unaware of a proposal to amend...

Now that we have made it past the March 16, 2013 effective date of the first-inventor-to-file provisions of the America Invents Act, it is time to turn our attention to Australia, and the April 15, 2013 effective date of the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act.

The patenting of human genes in Australia remains under court review. As reported in the blog Patentology, an appeal of the Australian decision, Cancer Voices et al. v. Myriad Genetics Inc. et al., was filed on March 4, 2013 to a Full Bench of the Federal Court of Australia by the law firm of Maurice Blackburn on behalf of cancer survivor Yvonne D’Arcy.

In a companion case to the “gene patenting” dispute presently before the U.S. Supreme Court, Myriad Genetics, Inc. successfully defended the patent-eligibility of “gene patents” in Australia. In Cancer Voices et al. v. Myriad Genetics Inc. et al. [Myriad] the Federal Court of Australia held that a claim that covers an isolated naturally occurring nucleic acid – either deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)...