CitizenBBN
06-13-2013, 04:05 PM
Don't see a lot of unanimous SCOTUS decisions these days, not ever, but this one was. Knowledge of what the human genome does isn't patentable.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/13/supreme-court-rules-human-genes-cannot-be-patented/?test=latestnews
A good decision IMO, understanding of nature has never been patentable. You can't patent one of the laws of physics just b/c you figured it out, nor can you patent knowledge of what a part of a gene controls. You can patent the test for something, but not knowledge of nature itself. A long standing principle of US patent law.
Lots of interesting stuff from the Court this summer. This one won't get all the political headlines but it's a very big decision and a very direct one from the Court.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/13/supreme-court-rules-human-genes-cannot-be-patented/?test=latestnews
A good decision IMO, understanding of nature has never been patentable. You can't patent one of the laws of physics just b/c you figured it out, nor can you patent knowledge of what a part of a gene controls. You can patent the test for something, but not knowledge of nature itself. A long standing principle of US patent law.
Lots of interesting stuff from the Court this summer. This one won't get all the political headlines but it's a very big decision and a very direct one from the Court.