U.S. Supreme Court: Laws of nature are not patentable

In one corner was the might of the intellectual property bar … and in the other corner were Mayo, AARP, and a host of consumer advocates. At issue was whether medical diagnostic processes (instructions for observing changes in a patient relative to a drug’s dosages) are eligible for patent protection. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court in Mayo Collaborative Services et al v. Prometheus Laboratories Inc. (No. 10-1150) invalidated the Prometheus patent covering a medical testing method, stating that laws of nature are not patentable.