IP Australia consults on High Court decision

Following the recent High Court of Australia decision on appeal of D'Arcy versus Myriad Genetics, isolated gene sequences are no longer patent eligible under Australian law and IP Australia has suspended examination of patent applications claiming isolated gene sequences until examination practices and guidelines have been revised to account for the decision.

This puts Australia in a similar position of the USA and out of step with significant economies including the European Union, China, Japan, Canada, Korea and New Zealand, says AusBiotech.

IP Australia advises that the Commissioner has considered the High Court's decision and the decision “clearly concludes that a claim to an isolated nucleic acid that merely represents information coding for a polypeptide is not patent eligible.” The Commissioners advises that the following are not patent eligible and will not accept claims for: