US Supreme Court addresses patent eligibility of isolated DNA and cDNA in Myriad V

Abstract

The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Myriad Genetics, Inc's claims to isolated, naturally occurring human DNA sequences are not patent-eligible, but that Myriad's claims to cDNA, which necessarily includes manipulated DNA sequences, are patent-eligible. The court also indicated that claims to methods of generating isolated DNA could be patent-eligible, even though no such claims were at issue. This decision marks the second time the Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case, and is yet another in a series of recent decisions by the Supreme Court that identifies the dividing line between patent-eligible and patent-ineligible subject matter.