ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law
Supreme Court declines to clean up its IP mess
The Supreme Court had a chance but decided not to clarify what kinds of diagnostics can be patented
January 13, 2020 8:23 PM UTC
Updated on Jan 17, 2020 at 10:55 PM UTC
Over the last decade the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a series of decisions on the patentability of diagnostics that have befuddled lower courts, stifled investment, and led former U.S. Patent and Trademark Director David Kappos to tell BioCentury that it is “easier to get a bio patent in China than in the U.S.” (see “101 Problems with Patent Eligibility”).
The Supreme Court announced Jan. 13 that it would not hear any of three cases that could have helped clarify what, if any, diagnostics can be patented in the U.S. ...