Search Here

A patent is a legal protection designed to prevent other people from exploiting an inventor's product. All kinds of patents, ranging from items to medicines, exist today. For nearly 30 years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been giving out patents on human genes. These patents give certain medical and biotechnology companies the exclusive right to study genes that they have isolated and discovered. However, as of today, the Supreme Court ruled that patents on parts of human genes that occur naturally in the body could no longer be patented.

The unanimous decision to stop these types of patents will definitely affect how these industries work. For example, the ruling voids the patents that Myriad Genetics Inc., which is a Salt Lake City, Utah based company, holds. Myriad Genetics Inc. had patents on two specific genes that are tied to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. From these patents, the company was able to develop the BRACAnalysis test, which screens people who might have this genetic mutation that increases the chances of either cancers three to seven times. The BRAC genetic mutation was recently all over the news after famous actress Angelina Jolie revealed she had it and underwent a preventive double mastectomy.

Since Myriad held the patents for these two genes, it was the only company that could sell the BRCA gene test. Opponents of these types of patents believe that the company could use these patents to prevent other researchers from analyzing the BRCA gene and potentially creating other tests.

"Today, the court struck down a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation," commented a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union Women's Rights Project, Sandra Park. "Myriad did not invent the BRCA genes and should not control them. Because of this ruling, patients will have greater access to genetic testing and scientists can engage in research on these genes without fear of being sued."

The new ruling, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, draws from previous beliefs that laws of nature, abstract ideas and natural phenomena are not patentable and concluded that DNA that occurs naturally in the body falls under those beliefs.

"We hold that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated," Thomas said according to the Washington Post.

The Supreme Court did state that DNA that has been created, known as cDNA can be patented. This ruling is under case 12-398, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.