Univ. of Ut. Research Found. v. Ambry Genetics Corp., No. 14-1361 (Fed. Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs own patents relating to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, mutations of which are linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. In prior litigation, the Supreme Court held that claims of one of the patents were drawn to patent-ineligible subject matter because the isolated DNA strands were natural phenomena. Generic competitors entered the market for kits to test for susceptibility to particular kinds of cancer. Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction, alleging infringement of 66 claims across 15 patents. The district court denied a preliminary injunction. The four composition of matter claims on appeal are directed to primers, which are “short, synthetic, single-stranded DNA molecule[s] that bind[] specifically to . . . intended target nucleotide sequence[s].” The court held these were likely patent ineligible because they claim “products of nature.” The method claims on appeal involve comparisons between the wild-type BRCA sequences with the patient’s BRCA sequences. The court reasoned that these were likely ineligible because the only “inventive concepts” are the patent-ineligible naturally occurring BRCA1 and BRCA2 sequences themselves; the other steps are conventional activities, uniformly employed by those working with DNA. The Federal Circuit affirmed, finding that the claims are directed to ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.