Biomedical Patents at the Supreme Court: A Path Forward

Authors

Arti K. Rai, Duke Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Keywords

patents, innovation, biomedical, personalized medicine, Supreme Court, DNA, patent eligibility, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.

Abstract

Although most would argue that software patents pose a bigger challenge, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently focused on biomedical patents. Two of the Court's recent decisions scaling back such patents, Mayo v. Prometheus and AMP v. Myriad, have provoked justifiable anxiety for those concerned about biomedical innovation, particularly in the area of personalized medicine. While acknowledging significant limitations in the Court's reasoning in both cases, this Essay sketches a reading that is consistent with the results and innovation-friendly.

Citation

Arti K. Rai, Biomedical Patents at the Supreme Court: A Path Forward, 66 Stanford Law Review Online 111-117 (2013)