Printed Matter Challenge to Patent Eligiblity
| December 11, 2020
C R Bard Inc. v. AngioDynamics Inc.
November 10, 2020
Opinion by: Reyna, Schall, and Stoll (November 10, 2020).
Summary:
A vascular access port patent recited “identifiers” that were not given patentable weight under the printed matter doctrine. Printed matter constitutes an abstract idea under Alice step 1. Nevertheless, even though printed matter was not given any patentable weight and the claim was directed to printed matter under Alice step 1, the claims were found eligible under Alice step 2.
Background:
Bard sued AngioDynamics in the District of Delaware for infringing U.S. Patent Nos. 8,475,417, 8,545,460, and 8,805,478. One representative claim is claim 1 of the ‘417 patent:
An assembly for identifying a power injectable vascular access port, comprising:
a vascular access port comprising a body defining a cavity, a septum, and an outlet in communication with the cavity;
a first identifiable feature incorporated into the access port perceivable following subcutaneous implantation of the access port, the first feature identifying the access port as suitable for flowing fluid at a fluid flow rate of at least 1 milliliter per second through the access port;
a second identifiable feature incorporated into the access port perceivable following subcutaneous implantation of the access port, the second feature identifying the access port as suitable for accommodating a pressure within the cavity of at least 35 psi, wherein one of the first and second features is a radiographic marker perceivable via x-ray; and
a third identifiable feature separated from the subcutaneously implanted access port, the third feature confirming that the implanted access port is both suitable for flowing fluid at a rate of at least 1 milliliter per second through the access port and for accommodating a pressure within the cavity of at least 35 psi.
Vascular access ports are implanted underneath a patient’s skin to allow injection of fluid into the patient’s veins on a regular basis without needing to start a new intravenous line every time. Certain procedures, such as computed tomography (CT) imaging, required high pressure and high flow rate injections through such ports. However, traditional vascular access ports were used for low pressure and flow rates, and sometimes ruptured under high pressures and flow rates. FDA approval was eventually required for vascular access ports that were structurally suitable for power injections under high pressures and flow rates. To distinguish between FDA approved power injection ports versus traditional ports, Bard used the claimed radiographic marker (e.g., “CT” etched in titanium foil on the device) on its FDA approved power injection ports that could be detected during an x-ray scan typically performed at the start of a CT procedure. Additional identification mechanisms included small bumps that were palpable through the skin, and labeling on device packaging and items that can be carried by the patient (e.g., keychain, wristband, sticker). AngioDynamics also received FDA approval for its own power injection vascular access ports including a scalloped shaped identifier and a radiographic “CT” marker.
AngioDynamics raised ineligibility under §101 using the printed matter doctrine to nix patentable weight for the claimed identifiers in its motion to dismiss the complaint, its summary judgment motion, and later during the trial on an oral JMOL motion. In advance of the trial, the district court requested a report and recommendation from a magistrate judge regarding whether “radiographic letters” and “visually perceptible information” limitations in the claims were entitled patentable weight under the printed matter doctrine, as part of claim construction. The district court judge adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendations on the printed matter and ultimately granted AngioDynamic’s JMOL motion for ineligiblity.
The Printed Matter Doctrine:
This decision summarized the printed matter doctrine as follows:
- “printed matter” is not patentable subject matter
- the printed matter doctrine prohibits patenting printed matter unless it is “functionally related” to its “substrate,” which includes the structural elements of the claim
- while this doctrine started out with literally “printed” material, it has evolved over time to encompass “conveyance of information using any medium,” and “any information claimed for its communicative content.”
- “In evaluating the existence of a functional relationship, we have considered whether the printed matter merely informs people of the claimed information, or whether it instead interacts with the other elements of the claim to create a new functionality in a claimed device or to cause a specific action in a claimed process.”
Here, there is no dispute that the claims include printed matter (markers) “identifying” or “confirming” suitability of the port for high pressure or high flow rate. These markers inform people of the claimed information – suitability for high pressure or high flow rate.
Bard asserted that the markers provided a new functionality for the port to be “self-identifying.” This reasoning was rejected because mere “self-identification” being new functionality “would eviscerate our established case law that ‘simply adding new instructions to a known product’ does not create a functional relationship.” For instance, marking of meat and wooden boards with information concerning the product does not create a functional relationship between the printed information and the substrate.
Bard asserted that the printed matter is functionally related to the power injection step of the method claims because medical providers perform the power injection “based on” the markers. This reasoning was also rejected because the claims did not recite any such causal relationship.
Accordingly, the Federal Circuit held that the markers and the information conveyed by the markers, i.e., that the ports are suitable for power injection, is printed matter not entitled to patentable weight.
Nevertheless, despite the holding about printed matter not given patentable weight, the Federal Circuit still found the claims to be patent eligible under Alice step 2.
Before getting to Alice step 2, the Federal Circuit equates printed matter to an abstract idea, citing to an eighty year old decision “where the printed matter, is the sole feature of alleged novelty, it does not come within the purview of the statute, as it is merely an abstract idea, and, as such, not patentable.” The court further equates this to post-Alice decisions (Two-Way Media, Elec. Pwr Grp, Digitech) recognizing that “the mere conveyance of information that does not improve the functioning of the claimed technology is not patent eligible subject matter. under §101.” “We therefore hold that a claim may be found patent ineligible under §101 on the grounds that it is directed solely to non-functional printed matter and the claim contains no additional inventive concept.”
However, with regard to Alice step 2’s inventive concept, the court viewed “the focus of the claimed advance is not solely on the content of the information conveyed, but also on the means by which that information is conveyed” (i.e., via the radiographic marker). Bard admitted that use of radiographically identifiable markings on implantable medical devices was known in the prior art. Nevertheless, “[e]ven if the prior art asserted by AngioDynamics demonstrated that it would have been obvious to combine radiographic marking with the other claim elements, that evidence does not establish that radiographic marking was routine and conventional under Alice step two.” “AngioDynamics’ evidence is not sufficient to establish as a matter of law, at Alice step two, that the use of a radiographic marker, in the ‘ordered combination’ of elements claimed, was not an inventive concept.” Even with regard to the corresponding method claim, “while the FDA directed medical providers to verify a port’s suitability for power injection before using a port for that purpose, it did not require doing so via imaging of a radiographic marker…[t]here is no evidence in the record that such a step was routinely conducted in the prior art.”
Takeaways:
- The printed matter doctrine not only precludes patentable weight for §§102 and 103 inquiries, but also raises abstract idea issues under Alice step 1.
- This case also reminds us of the eligibility hurdles for data processing inventions, with Two-Way Media “concluding that claims directed to the sending and receiving of information were unpatentable as abstract where the steps did not lead to any ‘improvement in the functioning of the system;’” Elec. Pwr Grp “holding that claims directed to ‘a process of gathering and analyzing information of a specified content, then displaying the results, and not any particular assertedly inventive technology for performing those functions’ are directed to an abstract idea;” and Digitech stating that “data in its ethereal, non-physical form is simply information that does not fall under any of the categories of eligible subject matter under section 101.”
- For Alice step 2, this case exemplifies the high bar for establishing “routine and conventional.” Here, the patentee’s admission that radiographic marking on implanted medical devices is known in the prior art was not enough to establish “routine and conventional.” Even prior art that demonstrates the obviousness of combining radiographic marking with the other claim elements was also not enough to establish “routine and conventional.”
- For Alice step 2, this case may exemplify the breadth of what constitutes an inventive concept in “an ordered combination.” The court does not specify exactly what the “ordered combination” was here. Perhaps, the “significantly more” (beyond the abstract idea of the printed matter) could simply be the combination of a radiographic marker and a port.
What’s a tool? What is functionality? Network monitoring claim held patent-eligible in split opinion
| October 29, 2019
SRI International, Inc., v. Cisco Systems, Inc.
March 20, 2019
Before Lourie, O’Malley, and Stoll. Opinion by Stoll. Dissenting opinion by Lourie.
Summary
The CAFC affirmed a district court decision holding that claims related to network security monitoring are patent-eligible. In the 2-1 opinion, the CAFC held that all of the asserted claims are patent eligible under §101 as not “directed to” an abstract idea under the first step of the Alice test, because the claims focus on an improvement in the functionality of computers and computer network technology.
The CAFC also affirmed the district court’s construction of the claim term “network traffic data,” summary judgment of no anticipation, and award of ongoing royalties but willful infringement and attorneys’ fees issues were vacated and remanded.
This presentation only addresses the issue of patent eligibility.
Details
SRI International, Inc. (“SRI”) sued Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”) for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,711,615 (‘615 patent) and 6,484,203 (‘203 patent). The ‘615 patent is a continuation of the ‘203 patent. The patents relate to network security by using network monitors to analyze the data on the network and generating and integrating reports of suspicious activity.
SRI proposed claim 1 of the ‘615 patent as representative claim while Cisco proposed claim 1 of the ‘203 patent. The CAFC noted that the claims are substantially similar, the difference in the list of categories of data not being material to any issue on appeal, and adopted claim 1 of ‘615 patent as the representative claim.
Claim 1 of the ‘615 patent:
1. A computer-automated method of hierarchical event monitoring and analysis within an enterprise network comprising:
deploying a plurality of network monitors in the enterprise network;
detecting, by the network monitors, suspicious network activity based on analysis of network traffic data selected from one or more of the following categories: {network packet data transfer commands, network packet data transfer errors, network packet data volume, network connection requests, network connection denials, error codes included in a network packet, network connection acknowledgements, and network packets indicative of well-known network-service protocols};
generating, by the monitors, reports of said suspicious activity; and
automatically receiving and integrating the reports of suspicious activity, by one or more hierarchical monitors.
As a preliminary matter, the CAFC noted that SRI spent considerable investment on network intrusion detection and developed the Event Monitoring Enabling Response or Anomalous Live Disturbances (“EMERALD”) project prior to the filing of the patents. In addition, the CAFC also noted that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense, which helped fund the project, called it a “gem in the world of cyber defense” and “‘a quantum leap improvement over’ previous technology.”
As to the issue of patent eligibility, the District Court held that the claims do more than merely recite the performance of a known business practice on the Internet and are better understood as being necessarily rooted in computer technology in order to solve a specific problem in the realm of computer networks. The CAFC agreed.
The CAFC explained that by the recitation of detecting an activity, receiving and integrating the reports, the claim does more than just the normal, expected operation of a conventional computer network. The CAFC specifically described the technological improvement as “a network defense system that monitors network traffic in real-time to automatically detect large-scale attacks,” with reference to Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp.
In addition, the CAFC noted that the specification provided an explanation of both the technological problem – the network becomes more valuable when the technology become more interoperable and integrated but also makes it more vulnerable to attack – and the technological solution, by providing “a framework for the recognition of more global threats to interdomain connectivity, including coordinated attempts to infiltrate or destroy connectivity across an entire network enterprise.” Unfortunately, here, the CAFC simply cited the specification of the SRI patent but did not provide any details regarding how the specification presents the technological solution in relation to the claim language.
When arguing that the claims are directed to an abstract idea, Cisco had raised three main arguments, which the CAFC addressed in turn:
1. the claims are “directed to generic steps required to collect and analyze data,” therefore, “the claims are analogous to those in Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A.” in which the claims were simply using the computers as tools. Thus, “the claims are directed to an abstract idea”;
2. “the invention does not involve an improvement to computer functionality itself”; and
3. the claims correspond generally to what people can “go through in their minds”.
Regarding Cisco’s first argument, the CAFC disagreed with Cisco’s view that the SRI patent claims are similar to the claims in Electric Power Group,[i] because the claimed invention in Electric Power Group was only “using computers as tools to solve a power grid problem.” The CAFC emphasized that the claims are similar to the claims in DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, which were “directed to more than merely requiring a computer network operating in is normal, expected manner.”
Next, in rejecting Cisco’s second argument, the CAFC asserted that the representative claim is not about “automating a conventional idea on a computer” but “improv[ing] the technical functioning of the computer and computer networks by reciting a specific technique for improving computer network security.”
The CAFC also rejected Cisco’s third argument that the claims recite a mental process, by countering that “the human mind is not equipped to detect suspicious activity by using network monitors and analyzing network packets.”
In conclusion, the CAFC held that the claims at issue are not “directed to” an abstract idea under step one of Alice, because the claims are not just using the computer as a tool to analyze data from multiple sources to detect suspicious activity. Instead, the claims define using network monitors to detect suspicious network activity based on analysis of network traffic data, generating reports of that suspicious activity, and integrating those reports using hierarchical monitors to identify hackers and potential intruders. Thus, the claims provide an improvement in the functionality of computers and computer networks, and, therefore, the claims are patent eligible.
Dissent
Dissenting Judge Lourie thought that the claims of the SRI patent were similar to the claims in Electric Power Group because, in his view, the SRI claims “recite nothing more than deploying network monitors, detecting suspicious network activity, and generating and handling reports.” Judge Lourie noted that in Electric Power Group, the claims that were held patent-ineligible recited “receiving data,” “detecting and analyzing events in real time,” “displaying the event analysis results and diagnoses of events,” “accumulating and updating measurements,” and “deriving a composite indicator of reliability.”
Further, he pointed out that the portions of the SRI specification to which the majority refers “only recites results, not means for accomplishing them,” and that the SRI claims as written “do not recite a specific way of enabling a computer to monitor network activity.” Since he considered that the SRI claims do not provide any specifics as to how the steps are performed and show no improvement to computer technology, he would have held that the claims were directed to an abstract idea.
Takeaway
As this decision shows, there is much uncertainty regarding whether a claim would be treated as patent-eligible or not under the Alice test. It seems that a different set of judges might have easily sided with Judge Lourie’s analysis and invalidated the claims.
In the
meantime, the explanations and details given in the patent description
regarding the technical problem solved by the invention, instead of referring
to generic computer or network components, helped these claims survive the
patent-eligibility challenge.
[i] Claim 12 of U.S. Patent 8,401,701 at issue in Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A.:
12. A method of detecting events on an interconnected electric power grid in real time over a wide area and automatically analyzing the events on the interconnected electric power grid, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of data streams, each of the data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped synchronized phasor measurements wherein the measurements in each stream are collected in real time at geographically distinct points over the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, the wide area comprising at least two elements from among control areas, transmission companies, utilities, regional reliability coordinators, and reliability jurisdictions;
receiving data from other power system data sources, the other power system data sources comprising at least one of transmission maps, power plant locations, EMS/SCADA systems;
receiving data from a plurality of non-grid data sources;
detecting and analyzing events in real-time from the plurality of data streams from the wide area based on at least one of limits, sensitivities and rates of change for one or more measurements from the data streams and dynamic stability metrics derived from analysis of the measurements from the data streams including at least one of frequency instability, voltages, power flows, phase angles, damping, and oscillation modes, derived from the phasor measurements and the other power system data sources in which the metrics are indicative of events, grid stress, and/or grid instability, over the wide area;
displaying the event analysis results and diagnoses of events and associated ones of the metrics from different categories of data and the derived metrics in visuals, tables, charts, or combinations thereof, the data comprising at least one of monitoring data, tracking data, historical data, prediction data, and summary data;
displaying concurrent visualization of measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics directed to the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid;
accumulating and updating the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics, grid data, and non-grid data in real time as to wide area and local area portions of the interconnected electric power grid; and
deriving a composite indicator of reliability that is an indicator of power grid vulnerability and is derived from a combination of one or more real time measurements or computations of measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics covering the wide area as well as non-power grid data received from the non-grid data source.
[1] Claim 12 of U.S. Patent 8,401,701 at issue in Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A.:
12. A method of detecting events on an interconnected electric power grid in real time over a wide area and automatically analyzing the events on the interconnected electric power grid, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of data streams, each of the data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped synchronized phasor measurements wherein the measurements in each stream are collected in real time at geographically distinct points over the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, the wide area comprising at least two elements from among control areas, transmission companies, utilities, regional reliability coordinators, and reliability jurisdictions;
receiving data from other power system data sources, the other power system data sources comprising at least one of transmission maps, power plant locations, EMS/SCADA systems;
receiving data from a plurality of non-grid data sources;
detecting and analyzing events in real-time from the plurality of data streams from the wide area based on at least one of limits, sensitivities and rates of change for one or more measurements from the data streams and dynamic stability metrics derived from analysis of the measurements from the data streams including at least one of frequency instability, voltages, power flows, phase angles, damping, and oscillation modes, derived from the phasor measurements and the other power system data sources in which the metrics are indicative of events, grid stress, and/or grid instability, over the wide area;
displaying the event analysis results and diagnoses of events and associated ones of the metrics from different categories of data and the derived metrics in visuals, tables, charts, or combinations thereof, the data comprising at least one of monitoring data, tracking data, historical data, prediction data, and summary data;
displaying concurrent visualization of measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics directed to the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid;
accumulating and updating the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics, grid data, and non-grid data in real time as to wide area and local area portions of the interconnected electric power grid; and
deriving a composite indicator of reliability that is an indicator of power grid vulnerability and is derived from a combination of one or more real time measurements or computations of measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics covering the wide area as well as non-power grid data received from the non-grid data source.
AUTOMATED PROCESSES ARE NOT INELIGIBLE SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE PERFORMED ON A GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTER
| October 4, 2016
McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games America Inc. et al.
September 13, 2016
Before Reyna, Taranto, and Stoll. Opinion by Reyna.
Summary:
McRO appealed a grant of judgment on the pleadings under FRCP 12(c) that the asserted claims of 6,307,576 (“the ’576 patent”) and 6,611,278 (“the ’278 patent”) are invalid under §101 by the District Court for the Central District of California. The District Court held that the asserted claims are directed to patent-ineligible subject matter and are therefore invalid under under §101. However, the Federal Circuit reversed the decision and held that the claims are not directed to an abstract idea and recite subject matter as a patentable process under §101 because an “order combination of claimed steps using unconventional rules” is not directed to an abstract idea and is therefore patent-eligible subject matter under §101.
Tags: §101 > automated process > judgment on the pleadings under FRCP 12(c) > preemption > technological improvement
PTAB Finally Considers “Processor” As Clearly Structure
| June 19, 2014
Ex Parte Cutlip
June 2, 2014
Panel: Lorin, Mohanty and Hoffman.
Summary:
After the debacle of three March 2013 PTAB decisions by a five judge PTAB panel relying on a strange American Heritage dictionary definition of “processor” as being software, this PTAB decision sets the record straight about a “processor” as clearly being structure.
Tags: §101 > 112 sixth paragraph > 112(f) > abstract idea > algorithm > Alice Corp. > CLS Bank > computer > CPU > indefiniteness > MPF > patent eligible subject matter > processor > software
Predictably Divided CAFC Panel Finds Computer System Claims Not Patent-Eligible
| September 17, 2013
Accenture Global Services, GMBH v. Guidewire Software, Inc. September 5, 2013 Panel: Lourie (author), Reyna, Rader (dissent) Summary:Not surprisingly, the decision of the latest Federal Circuit case on software patent eligibility can be predicted based on the makeup of the CAFC panel. Judge Lourie, joined by Judge Reyna, issued the majority opinion that the system claims were invalid. The Court followed the analysis for determining patent eligibility from CLS Bank, 717 F.3d 1269 (Fed. Cir. 2013) and affirmed the district court’s finding that the system claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,013,284 (“the ‘284 patent”) were ineligible. Judge Rader dissented.
Tags: §101 > abstract idea > CLS Bank > preemption > software patent
Specific application of an abstract idea may be patent eligible
| June 26, 2013
Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC.
June 21, 2013
Panel: Rader, Lourie and O’Malley. Opinion by Rader. Concurrence by Lourie
Summary
Ultramercial, Inc. sued Hulu, LLC for infringement of U.S. Patent 7,346,545 (the ‘545 patent) directed to a method of monetizing and distributing copyrighted products over the Internet. The district court dismissed the patent suit by holding that the patent claims an abstract idea; therefore, it is not a process under 35 U.S.C. §101. In an earlier decision, the Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s holding and remanded. The Supreme Court of the United States vacated the earlier decision by the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit again holds that the patent does not claim an abstract idea because the claims are not drawn to a mathematical algorithm or a series of purely mental steps because the claims require, among other things, a particular method for collecting revenue from the distribution of media products over the Internet by way of controlled interaction with a consumer over an Internet website. Therefore, the Federal Circuit again reversed the district court’s holding and remanded for further proceeding.
Tags: §101 > abstract idea > mathematical formula > mental process > patent eligibility > patent eligible subject matter > process
The Alice in Wonderland En Banc Decision by the Federal Circuit in CLS Bank v. Alice
| May 13, 2013
CLS Bank v. Alice Corporation (en banc)May 10, 2013
After the Federal Circuit issued its en banc decision on May 10, 2013 in CLS Bank v. Alice Corp, the patent owner Alice Corp must be feeling like Alice in Alice in Wonderland, bewildered and frightened by the fantastical situation in which they find themselves:
(1) “bewildered” because an equally divided Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that Alice’s claimed system to tangible machine components including a first party device, a data storage unit, a second party device, a computer, and a communications controller, programmed with specialized functions consistent with detailed algorithms disclosed in the patent, constitutes a patent ineligible “abstract idea;”
(2) “frightened” because, as Judge Moore puts it, “this case is the death of hundreds of thousands of patents, including all business method, financial system, and software patents as well as many computer implemented and telecommunications patents” (Moore Op. at 2); and
(3) “fantastical” because, as Judge Newman puts it, the en banc court was tasked to provide objective standards for 35 USC §101 patent-eligibility, but instead has “propounded at least three incompatible standards, devoid of consensus, serving to add to the unreliability and cost of the [patent] system…[such that] the only assurance is that any successful innovation is likely to be challenged in opportunistic litigation, whose result will depend on the random selection of the panel” (Newman Op. at 1-2).
Tags: §101 > 101 > abstract ideas > Alice > CLS Bank > computer patents > patent eligibility > patentable subject matter > preemption > software patents
Fractured CAFC panel again affirms patent eligibility of isolated DNA, and applies Mayo
| August 21, 2012
Association for Molecular Pathology et al. v. U.S.P.T.O. et al.
August 16, 2012
Panel: Lourie, Bryson and Moore. Majority opinion by Lourie, concurrence by Moore, dissent by Bryson.
Less than a month after hearing oral arguments, the CAFC panel of Judges Lourie, Bryson and Moore last week issued an updated decision in the controversial AMP v. USPTO (Myriad genetics) case. The CAFC reached the same conclusion as they did last year: (1) the Plaintiffs do have standing, (2) the isolated DNA and cDNA claims are patent eligible, (3) the “analyzing” and “comparing” method claims are not patent eligible and (4) the screening method claim is patent eligible.
As with the decision last year, the panel reached a unanimous conclusion with respect to the issues of standing, subject matter eligibility of the cDNA claims, and subject matter eligibility of the method claims. However, the panel reached different conclusions with respect to the composition claims which recite isolated DNA. Since the opinions of the Court are very similar to the opinions issued in 2011, this article will focus on the Judges’ views with respect to the impact of Mayo v. Prometheus (English summary; Japanese summary) on the claims in question, and particularly with respect to the isolated DNA claims.
Tags: §101 > bilski > biotech > cDNA > DNA > law of nature > Myriad > patent eligible subject matter > Supreme Court
CAFC reiterates patent eligibility of isolated DNA in the Myriad case
| August 16, 2012
Less than a month after hearing oral arguments, the CAFC panel has issued a decision in the controversial AMP v. USPTO (Myriad genetics case). The CAFC reached the same conclusion as they did last year: (1) the Plaintiffs do have standing, (2) the isolated DNA and cDNA claims are patent eligible, (3) the “analyzing” and “comparing” method claims are not patent eligible and (4) the screening method claim is patent eligible.
We will provide further analysis of the decision in the coming days, including the panel’s reasoning why the Mayo holding is limited to method claims, and does not affect composition claims. Readers should be aware that this is likely not the last word on this case…An en banc rehearing and/or another petition to the Supreme Court are very likely.
The full opinion can be read here:
http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/images/stories/opinions-orders/10-1406.pdf
Tags: §101 > biotech > Myriad > patent eligible subject matter
Summary of Oral Arguments in AMP v. USPTO remand
| July 20, 2012
July 20, 2012
In the immortal words of baseball great Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again”. A little more than a year after they previously heard AMP v. USPTO, the CAFC panel of Judges Lourie, Bryson and Moore have once again taken up the question of whether isolated DNA and related methods are patent eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101.
Tags: §101 > bilski > biotech > diagnostics > DNA > law of nature > Mayo > Myriad > patent eligible subject matter
