Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

11-2016

Abstract

This paper is prompted by a series of recent high-profile decisions emanating from the apex courts in the US and Australia – namely, Mayo and Myriad – on the patent eligibility of gene-based inventions. Adopting a comparative approach, this paper critically examines whether isolated gene sequences and diagnostic methods qualify as patentable subject matter in several leading jurisdictions, including the US, Australia, Europe and the UK. An attempt will also be made, after carefully considering various arguments on both sides of the policy debate, at predicting what the future might hold (or, perhaps more accurately, at suggesting what the future ought to be) for gene patenting and the patenting of diagnostic methods in the global biotechnology landscape.

Keywords

Biotechnological inventions, human genetics, molecular diagnostics, public health, comparative law, patentable subject matter, patent eligibility, discovery-invention distinction, EU Biotech Directive

Discipline

Intellectual Property Law

Publication

Law, Innovation and Technology

Volume

8

Issue

2

First Page

207

Last Page

246

ISSN

1757-9961

Identifier

10.1080/17579961.2016.1250379

Publisher

Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles - no Open Select

Additional URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2016.1250379

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