New guidance provides optimism for securing life sciences patents in USA

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released its 2014 Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility, which will provide some optimism to those pursuing patent protection for life sciences related innovation in the USA.

The guidance has been closely anticipated, following landmark rulings in the cases of Mayo Collaborative Serv versus Prometheus Labs and  Association for Molecular Pathology vs Myriad Genetics, says an associate at Withers & Rogers, a leading firm of patent and trade mark attorneys.

The Myriad ruling concluded that all naturally-occurring human gene sequences are unpatentable. The earlier Prometheus ruling found that a patent relating to a method for optimising drug treatment was also unpatentable, as claims about its innovative nature merely amount to reciting a law of nature.

Follows criticism of initial guidance