Federal Court Rules in Favor of Gene Patents

July 31, 2011

August 1, 2011 | The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled on Friday that genes can be patented, overturning a lower court decision. The court ruled that DNA isolated from the body is "markedly different" from DNA within the body and is therefore patent eligible. The 2-to-1 decision on the gene patenting issue was also a rejection of arguments made by the Obama administration, which had filed an amicus brief arguing that isolated DNA should not be patented. New York Times