Konski and Brinckerhoff Quoted on Myriad Patent Eligibility

Foley Partners Antoinette Konski and Courtenay Brinckerhoff were quoted in a Managing IP article, “Federal Circuit Arguments in Myriad May Worry Biotech Industry,” on October 15, 2014. The story discussed the current patent case involving Myriad Genetics’ BRCA1/BRCA2 diagnostic tests.

Brinckerhoff was quoted saying, “The easiest decision for the Federal Circuit to reach would be to affirm based on the ‘substantial question’ standard without deciding patent eligibility on the merits. As Myriad’s counsel suggested, such a decision would leave the biotech industry ‘at sea’ until the case makes it back to the Federal Circuit again.”

Konski addressed the impact of the ruling and said, “This case is important because during oral argument what I captured is the Federal Circuit appears to be trying to have a test or an analytical framework that could be applied to inventions across a spectrum of technologies. That’s a more general importance. More specifically it really goes to how is one going to apply the decision holding in Myriad, what did the Supreme Court intend, and what remains as patent eligible after that decision.”