Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics - Timeline of Events
New York federal court ruled BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are invalid (March 29, 2010).
On March 29, 2010 a New York federal court ruled that the patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are invalid. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard Myriad's appeal of that ruling in April 2011.Appeals court ruled that companies can obtain patents on genes (July 2011).
In July 2011, the appeals court ruled that companies can obtain patents on the genes but cannot patent methods to compare those gene sequences.The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the appeals court (March 2012).
In March 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the decision of the appeals court and instructed the court to reconsider the case in light of Mayo v. Prometheus, a Supreme Court decision unanimously invalidating patents on methods for evaluating a patient’s response to a drug.The federal appeals court once again ruled that companies can obtain patents on the genes (August 2012).
In August 2012, the divided federal appeals court ruled (2-1) for the second time that companies can obtain patents on the genes, but invalidated patents on methods to compare those gene sequences.The plaintiffs asked the Supreme Court to hear the case on gene patenting (September 2012).
In September 2012, the plaintiffs again asked the Supreme Court to rule on the patentability of genes.The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on gene patenting (November 2012).
In November 2012, the Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs' cert petition and agreed to hear argument during the current session on the patentability of human genes.
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The lawsuit, Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, et al., was filed on behalf of researchers, genetic counselors, women patients, cancer survivors, breast cancer and women's health groups, and scientific associations representing 150,000 geneticists, pathologists, and laboratory professionals. The lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah Research Foundation, which hold the patents on the genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. The lawsuit charges that patents on human genes violate the First Amendment and patent law because genes are "products of nature" and therefore can't be patented.