Partner Courtenay Brinckerhoff was quoted in a June 13, 2013 Associated Press article titled, “Court says isolated human genes cannot be patented.” The article discussed the Supreme Court’s June 13, 2013 decision in the “ACLU/Myriad” gene patenting case (12-398, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.). In addition to ruling that human genes cannot be patented, the Supreme Court approved the patenting of synthetic DNA, which could be used to treat a variety of diseases. Ms. Brinckerhoff said the split decision would affect companies doing work similar to Myriad, stating, “The decision is likely to have the greatest impact on diagnostic/genetic screening patents similar to those at issue in Myriad, but the ruling will impact the patent-eligibility of other newly discovered compounds that are ‘isolated’ from nature, such as medicinal compounds isolated from plants, beneficial proteins isolated from human or animal sources, and beneficial microorganisms isolated from soil or the deep sea.”
