Good News on the Patent Front

It may be a bit premature to celebrate just yet, but I'm thrilled to hear news that the BRCA patents have apparently been invalidated by Judge Sweet. As reported in BusinessWeek:

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in New York ruled the patents invalid today, saying they “are directed to a law of nature and were therefore improperly granted.” The judge sided with the American Civil Liberties Union, medical groups and the Public Patent Foundation who sued to invalidate the patents.

As I'd stated in a previous post, Myriad's patent position was illogical and troubling, especially as full genome sequencing is now amazingly within our grasp. Patents on every gene would be like needing to have 1000 people show up to paint your house, just because they claimed a right to that small piece of wall. The concept of gene patents may not have been challenged partly because people weren't contemplating the genome as a whole, but rather in small, discreet chunks.

There will certainly be fall-out from Judge Sweet's ruling but I don't think I'm the only person who'll have a spring in her step based on this early news. Congratulations to the ACLU and all the people they were representing.