Recently, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts holding claims directed to methods for diagnosing neurological disorders invalid for lack of subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Athena Diagnostics, Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Servs , LLC, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 3645 (Fed. Cir. 2019). …
A divided Federal Circuit panel upheld Vanda’s patent covering its iloperidone schizophrenia treatment (Fanapt®), holding the method of treatment claims were directed to patent-eligible subject matter. Vanda Pharms. Inc., et al. v. West-Ward Pharms. Int’l Ltd., et al., Nos. 2016-2707, 2016-2708 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 13, 2018). In meticulously evading the Supreme Court’s Mayo decision, Vanda…
In Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, the Supreme Court held invalid under § 101 patent claims that were directed to isolated genes that could be used to test for increased risk of breast cancer. While the Court found that discovery of the genes was important and useful, “separating [the] gene from its surrounding…