Case Law Index
federal2013
Additional Highlights:Patent LawGene PatentsPatent Eligibility
Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.
United States Supreme Court
Key Holding
Naturally occurring DNA segments are products of nature and not patent eligible; cDNA is patent eligible because it is not naturally occurring.
Case Summary
Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics held that isolated, naturally occurring genomic DNA is not patent eligible because it is a product of nature, while cDNA — which is laboratory-created and lacks naturally occurring introns — may be patented.