SickKids in Court - Are Public-Private Research Collaborations a Hindrance or a Driver of the Innovative Process?

A recent lawsuit filed by Myriad Genetics involving the alleged infringement of their controversial breast cancer screening tool has included the prestigious Toronto SickKids hospital as a co-plaintiff. This lawsuit has been a source of criticism for the hospital and has reinvigorated the debate on the merits of public-private research collaborations in health care innovation.

Isolated Genes Are None Of Your Business! – SCOTUS Decides Myriad

On June 13, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision which ruled against the patenting of isolated DNA sequences in their natural form in the now infamous case involving Myriad Genetics, Inc. and the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.  The decision represents a major milestone in the legal treatment of biotechnological inventions, and presents a number of relevant […]

The ‘Myriad’ with the Golden ‘Gene’: Australia Upholds Breast Cancer Gene Patents

The Myriad Genetics gene patenting saga has officially shaped international jurisprudence, with the Federal Court of Australia upholding the patents for BRCA1 and BRCA2. In Cancer Voices Australia v. Myriad Genetics, NSD643/2010, Federal Court of Australia (Sydney), the first Australian case to deal with the issue of gene patents, the Court took a similarly liberal […]

Live and Let Die: Gene Patenting Plot Thickens as the Patent/Trade Secret Line is Blurred

The long battle in the American courts over Myriad Genetics’ patents of BRCA1 and BRCA2, the primary diagnostic genes for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer has been well-documented in the IPilogue (see coverage by Beatrice yesterday as well as previous posts here, here, and here). Now, Myriad is poised to defend their patents at the Supreme Court for a second time, with […]

U.S. Court of Appeals Stands Tall on the Subject of Gene Patents in the Wake of the Mayo v Prometheus Ruling

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in the case Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) and ACLU v. USPTO and Myriad Genetics (Myriad), held in August that isolated genes are a patent-eligible subject matter. The Court of Appeals reaffirmed its prior ruling on the matter, which was recently covered by IP Osgoode.

BRCA Gene Patents Lawsuit Lives On

George Nathanael is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Earlier this month a United States District Court denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought forth against the USPTO, Myriad Genetics, and directors of the University of Utah Research Foundation. The suit had to do with patents covering the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 […]

Patent Cures, Not Genes, Cancer Patients Argue: Easier Said Than Done

Australia is now at the centre of the global gene patent debate with a Senate inquiry that began last week in Melbourne. Senators in Australia began hearing public submissions on August 4th about the topic of gene patents in relation to the impact they have on health care costs. The inquiry centres around a bid […]