United States
Julyu 2012

Source: ISB News Report
By Phil Jones

In Mayo v. Prometheus, the US Supreme Court decided that certain inventions are not worthy of a patent. Commentators say that the decision is a supreme punt on patent law that will engender confusion in the courts and among investors, especially those who are considering an investment in biotech. Kevin E. Noonan, a biotechnology patent lawyer with McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (Chicago, IL), sees a damaging trend in recent Court decisions.

During September 2011, the Federal Circuit published its opinion in Monsanto Company and Monsanto Technology LLC v. Vernon Hugh Bowman, which concerned Monsanto's allegation of patent infringement by a farmer who planted the progeny of genetically engineered (GE) seeds covered by the company's US patents. Bowman appealed the Federal Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that his use of the seeds was covered by the exhaustion doctrine.

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Published: July 21, 2012