Ruling From Federal Appeals Court Upholds Broad Use Of Biotech Patents

The case involved freezing and thawing a type of liver cell, and the appeals court said that a lower court was wrong to suggest that the method couldn't be patented because it covered a law of nature. In the ruling Tuesday, the judges said the process involves putting steps together in a way that “was itself far from routine and conventional.”

Bloomberg: Personalized Medicine Gets Boost From Court Ruling On Patents

The business of diagnostic treatments and personalized medicine got a boost Tuesday after an appeals court made it harder to invalidate certain patents by claiming they simply cover laws of nature. Patents can be obtained for processes relating to laws of nature if they go at least one step further, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said. The Washington court, which specializes in patent law, overturned a ruling that a patent owned by closely held Rapid Litigation Management Ltd. was invalid, and revived an infringement suit against a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Decker and Bloomfield, 7/5)

Modern Healthcare: Court Backs More Expansive View Of What Biotech Firms Can Patent

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday in favor of In Vitro, which wanted its patent upheld for a process of repeatedly freezing and thawing a type of liver cell useful for testing, diagnostic and treatment purposes. A lower court had ruled In Vitro's process wasn't patentable because it covered a law of nature and laws of nature can't be patented. (Schencker, 7/5)

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