The High Court Of Australia Shall Take A Decision On A Myriad Patent

In September 2014, the Federal Court of Australia decided that isolated genes indicating susceptibility to breast cancer are patentable subject matter, rejecting an appeal to the decision led by cancer patient Yvonne D’Arcy. Their decision in D’Arcy vs. Myriad Genetics Inc is in strong contrast to the decision reached by the US Supreme Court in a dispute over the same genes. On June 13, 2013 the Supreme Court in the US ruled that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated. In this context, on December 16, 2014 USPTO issued the 2014 Interim Guidance for USPTO personnel to use when determining subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. 101 in view of recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, including Alice Corp., Myriad, and Mayo. These guidelines reflect significance changes from the previous March 2014 Guidance. Yvonne D’Arcy has now taken the case to the High Court, which will decide whether to uphold the Federal Court’s decision.