Australian “Gene Patenting” Case to be Appealed

The patenting of human genes in Australia remains under court review. As reported in the blog Patentology, an appeal of the Australian decision, Cancer Voices et al. v. Myriad Genetics Inc. et al., was filed on March 4, 2013 to a Full Bench of the Federal Court of Australia by the law firm of Maurice Blackburn on behalf of cancer survivor Yvonne D’Arcy. As reported in my February 19, 2013 post, the lower court upheld claims to isolated polynucleotides comprising all, or a portion of the BRCA1 locus or of a mutated BRCA1 locus. The polynucleotides can be RNA, DNA, cDNA and synthetic forms.