Understanding The Shifting Patent Landscape: My Latest Podcast For The Burrill Report

It has been a while since the Federal Circuit weighed in on the patent eligibility of so-called “natural product” claims. While the finding of non-eligibility in ChromaDex, Inc. v. Elysium Health, Inc. is not surprising, it is interesting that the court chose to distinguish Natural Alternatives instead of characterizing that decision as being based on a unique procedural posture.

In a decision underscoring that the U.S. stands (nearly) alone in holding most diagnostic methods to be not eligible for patenting, the Federal Court of Australia upheld Sequenom’s Australian patent directed to prenatal diagnostic methods that involve detecting fetal DNA in maternal blood samples. Those working to reform U.S. patent eligibility law might want to consult this decision for guidance.

Congress has taken an important step along the road to reforming patent eligibility law. As announced in this press release, Senators Tillis (R-NC) and Coons (D-DE) and Representatives Collins (R-GA-9), Johnson (D-GA-4) and Stivers (R-OH-15) have released a “bipartisan, bicameral draft bill” that would revise 35 USC § 101 and eliminate the current role of “judicial exceptions.” While patent reform often is a two-steps-forward-one-step-back process, any Congressional action on this issue may be seen as a step in the right direction.