Members of the biotech community were surprised this spring when the District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that isolated DNA is not patent eligible subject matter. Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation have appealed this case to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Many members of the biotech community have submitted amicus curiae briefs to the court on the issue of whether isolated DNA is patent eligible subject matter. The most interesting brief was submitted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) where, in a departure from long standing federal policy, the DOJ opined that isolated DNA is not patent eligible subject matter.
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