Myriad Genetics loses gene patent appeal to Ambry

Bloomberg News has the story.

In another defeat for Myriad Genetics, an appeals court has ruled against Myriad's BRCA gene sequence patents, used for breast and ovarian cancer tests. The ruling not only helps defendant Ambry Genetics, but other sellers of breast cancer tests, such as San Diego's Pathway Genomics. Pathway has also been sued by Myriad.

The appeals court said three patents on the tests never should have been issued.

The patents cover products of nature that aren’t eligible for legal protection, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in an opinion posted today on the court’s docket. The court upheld a trial judge’s decision to allow the competing tests, including those made by Ambry Genetics Corp., to remain on the market.

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The complete opinion is included in a PDF file to the right of this sentence.