PATENTING GENOMICS INNOVATIONS:POST-MYRIAD CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES

Patenting gene and its nucleotide sequence has been a controversial subject since the release of working draft ofthe Human Genome Project. A number of US Supreme Court judgmentspronounced in the recent past and accordingly revisedpatent examination strategies of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)created a huge confusion in the field of biotechnology. The present article explores the volatile nature of judicial decision-making inmodern biotechnology arena and attempts to analyze and gaugethe practical impact of the landmark judgment of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad genetics Inc. The present article also reveals how the Myriadjudgmentchanged the USPTO’s long-standing practice of granting patents on isolated DNA molecules and set a new patent-eligibility standard for genes and DNA related innovations. The present article also endeavors to investigate the challenges and possibilities of patenting isolated proteins, sequence homology and protein three-dimensional structure based innovations in post-Myriad US patent regime.